Proud Alex Revell salutes Stevenage after win at Barnsley

Jan 25, 2025 2 min read
Alex Revell was a proud man (Zac Goodwin/PA)
Alex Revell was a proud man (Zac Goodwin/PA)

Stevenage manager Alex Revell described his side’s 1-0 victory at Barnsley as a “huge win” and praised his players for securing it.

Dan Kemp struck in time added on to give Stevenage all three points.

“I think that people watching today would have seen a performance full of energy, full of togetherness, full of spirit,” Revell said.

“Limiting a team in the top five to four shots, one on target… So when you look back on that and you see the performance and you see the players coming onto the pitch and making a difference as well, you’re proud as a manager.

“You want to come to these places and win and that’s a double over them now this season, which is a big statement. And also what it does do is it makes the players believe more, believe in what they’re doing, believe in their own ability, believe in what they can do as a team.

“First and foremost, they’ve got the desire, they’ve got everything that is the minimum people crave for and we’ve got that in abundance and then it’s just about adding a little bit more in terms of how we play. I’m really proud of all of them.

“Sometimes it’s not easy to score goals and we’ve been criticised for a lack of goals. But in moments you also have to take chances that you get.

“It’s not through a lack of creating, it’s not through the lack of putting them in areas. We’re playing some really, really top football and it takes time. We’re changing what we are and who we are a little bit.

“When you get opportunities in these games, you have to take them. We’re a work in progress but it’s a huge win.”

For Barnsley head coach Darrell Clarke there was no such positivity.

Clarke and his men remain in the top six but he was left with a lot of questions.

“Woeful, real poor performance. So many of our players today guilty of giving sloppy possession away. Didn’t create anything when we did get into the final third, the decision-making was poor. Really loose and sloppy,” he said.

“Last week had me scratching my head thinking how we had not scored 10 goals. This week we’re just a miles off the standard and quality needed to be a top-six club at this level. Responsibility is down to me but I can’t legislate for such a poor performance.

“I thought during the week the boys trained well and were feeling confident, despite the result last week, then we put on put on a real bad performance in front of our own fans, which is tough to take and we deserve the reaction we got.

“I do understand but the players have got to understand that that’s nowhere near the standard of quality needed to be in the top six come the end of the season.”

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