Grant McCann hails Peterborough defensive strength after vital win at Barnsley

Peterborough manager Grant McCann hailed a strong defensive display from his side after Jack Marriott and Frankie Kent secured a vital 2-0 win against fellow strugglers Barnsley.

Marriott put the visitors ahead in the 25th minute with a clinical finish into the roof of the net after receiving a through ball from Sammie Szmodics and Kent made the points safe in the 75th minute when he headed home a Harrison Burrows corner.

McCann said: “I’m really pleased with our lads. We dug in, we stayed strong and defended quite a lot of balls in our box.

“We weren’t great in terms of on the ball, but I thought defensively we were strong when we had to be. I was pleased for the goalkeeper and the back five. It’s really pleasing to come away with a clean sheet and three points.

“It’s a good finish from Jack (Marriott) on his left foot. Jack’s in good form and it was a really good finish.”

“It was a good result for us. I don’t think it was the best of games, to be honest with you. It was a scrappy, tense affair, which I’m sure most people would imagine it would be anyway, given the position of both teams.”

Barnsley’s defeat leaves them on the brink of relegation to League One.

Head coach Poya Asbaghi said: “We knew we had to win this game to give ourselves the little chance we still had. The performance itself was better than the result and that’s what makes me disappointed.

“It’s really tough to handle. It’s mathematically still possible and we’ll still fight and still believe in it, but I understand how few percentages there are for us (to stay up).

“Even if there is no hope, we owe it to the fans to keep fighting.

“I think the fans understood that the performance itself in terms of creating chances was good enough, but we needed to win so of course they were really frustrated.

“I’m not going to sit here right now and talk about my future. Of course, I’m going to fight like everybody else. It’s not in my nature to give anything up.”