Barnsley FC boss Daniel Stendel on debutant Rogan Ravenhill, Cieran Slicker update and hopes of keeping Reyes Cleary

BARNSLEY head coach Daniel Stendel praised the contribution of debutant keeper Rogan Ravenhill – with his save to deny Jon Mellish in an otherwise faultless penalty shoot-out playing a major part in the Reds’ EFL Cup progress against Wigan Athletic.

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Barnsley-born Ravenhill, 20, was drafted in due to an injury to Cieran Slicker – with Kieren Flavell also sidelined - with the Ipswich Town loanee set to be out for a spell.

Barnsley, who were comprehensively second-best in the first half to a Wigan side who led thanks to Dara Costelloe’s 40th-minute strike and spurned several opportunities to put the tie to bed before the interval – dug in and secured a shot at penalties, thanks to a late equaliser from Cam McGeehan, who was handed the captain’s armband ahead of Luca Connell, as the first-round tie ended 1-1.

The Reds triumphed 6-5 in the shoot-out with the winning penalty struck by Josh Earl. McGeehan, Patrick Kelly, Sam Gale, Connell and the impressive Reyes Cleary also converted their spot-kicks to send the hosts into round two.

On the contribution of Ravenhill, who made three key saves in normal time, although his positioning was awry for Wigan’s strike, Stendel – speaking after the first competitive game of his second spell at the helm, said: “When I came in, I had a talk with him and said that I would like that he improved more and that he is more present (consistent) in training.

"The first time he was not happy, but after that, the reaction was the great thing for me, he did really well in training. He tried to improve in every training session than he did before and after training, he did a lot more than he had to do and after the injury for Slickers, he got the chance.

“It was a dream for him and he was really good for us today.”

On Slicker’s injury, Stendel added: “He got an injury last week and we'll have a look at what it is in off-time (time out).

"It's a good sign, for everybody that we have players (to step in) and it doesn't matter if they're really young or without a big experience, they can help us like Rogan today.

“I hope Slicks is back in the next weeks, but I think he needs a little bit of time.

“He has an appointment with a specialist. I don't really know at the moment the right answer (in terms of injury absence), but I think at start of next week, we have more more information and then I can answer the question.”

Comprehensively second best in the first period, Barnsley were better on the restart, with Reyes Cleary underlining his importance to the Reds cause with an impressive display. He was switched more centrally after the break with Makenzie Kirk, who had a slight injury issue in the week, coming off.

It was the sort of performance from Cleary which showed why he has been on the radar of a number of clubs this year.

On Cleary’s performance and the club’s hopes of keeping him, Stendel added: “I think the situation is open in every side, but I had a talk with him yesterday and said that we needed him today in the game.

"In the first half, we had some good situations, but I had the feeling we needed him more in the centre, especially with the back to the goal and this is the reason that we switched in the second half a little bit more and he had some good situations.

"He helped us to change the game in the second half."

On his future, the German said: “We will see in the next four weeks time and when he's here I'm happy. If he leaves, then we look for other options.”

Offering his take on the Reds’ overall performance, he continued: “I think nobody in the stadium believed that (result) after the first half.

"We were not happy about the first half, with everything out of possession and in possession, and I know we can play so much better.

"I said it to the players in the half-time, we need more courage in everything that we do, more belief, more togetherness, and we started the second half exactly in the way we wanted to do.

"In the end, I think the goal was deserved for us in the second half and in the penalty shoot-out, you need a bit of luck, and we have a good goalkeeper, not only in the penalty shoot-out, but also in the game.

"He kept us in the game, especially in the first half, and it was a great performance from Rogan.”