, ‘Back from his deep sleep’ – Ismael’s teasing praise for Barnsley star

‘Back from his deep sleep’ – Ismael’s teasing praise for Barnsley star

Barnsley head coach Valerien Ismael offered some interesting praise for wing-back Callum Styles after his match-winning performance in the FA Cup, hailing his return from a “deep sleep”.

The 20-year-old starred in the Reds’ exceptional fourth-round victory over Championship leaders Norwich City at Oakwell.

After his team-mates failed to convert a host of chances in a dominant performance, Styles found the finishing touch others had been lacking early in the second half.

As well as scoring the game’s only goal, he made a crucial intervention at the other end with a heroic block to deny Norwich’s Emi Buendia a certain goal.

READ: Barnsley announce player departure after Ismael ultimatum

Styles has been in excellent form this season but Ismael clearly felt that he had not hit those high standards in recent weeks.

Speaking after the match, he told The72: “I’m delighted he’s back from his deep sleep the last few weeks. He played at his level and he has to stay this way.

“He’s a young player with a lot of talent but he has to learn to stay that way. Today is the right step.”

The same might be said of the whole team, having lost all three league matches so far in 2021 without scoring a single goal.

They have been highly competitive in all three clashes against promotion-chasing outfits, but taken nothing from matches at Norwich, at home to Swansea City, and away at Watford earlier in the week.

Alex Pantling/Getty Images Sport

The FA Cup is providing relief but, for Ismael, the fact that they produced an imperious performance against one of division’s leading sides was just as important as their progress in the competition.

“In the last few weeks we knew that we are near to beating a top team, and now we make the next step,” he said.

“That’s why it was very important for us, it was more than the FA Cup. It was a great to reward ourselves with an excellent performance and the boys did the job well.

“It’s a great feeling now that we finish the job, after the run in the Championship, to see we can do this. We were near but now we believe that we can.”

Ismael has chosen to field strong line-ups in the FA Cup and been rewarded for that approach with progress to the fifth round, where they will host Chelsea or Luton Town.

READ: Barnsley ‘make bid’ for EFL striker as Cauley Woodrow welcomes competition

He made only three changes, keeping young midfielder Romal Palmer in the team, although he was hooked at half-time with the boss later providing an explanation for his decision.

“It was tiredness,” Ismael said. “Against Watford was his first game as a starter and he needed more recovery between the games.

“He was always too late in the duels and decision making. It’s a normal process with a player who doesn’t play regularly.”

One change they did make was between the posts as Brad Collins was given another run-out in place of regular first-choice goalkeeper Brad Walton.

Collins didn’t have a save to make all game and he told The72: “I woke up this morning expecting a busy day, but the back five helped me out massively and they deserved the clean sheet that they got today.”

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