Barnsley boss: Draw benefited us more than Portsmouth in promotion race

The promotion rivals shared a goalless draw on Saturday, retaining the five-point distance between the clubs.

Pompey were left to rue Omar Bogle’s second-half penalty miss in a tight contest played under the south-coast sunshine.

For Kenny Jackett’s men, it marked a fifth-successive League One draw as they continue to drop behind in the promotion push.

For the Tykes, however, it is now 14 league matches undefeated, an impressive recent run which has positioned them in second spot behind Luton.

And head coach Stendel believes Saturday’s outcome is more preferable for them than Pompey.

He told the Barnsley Chronicle: ‘A point is okay for both teams, but for us more.

‘Both teams deserved one point. A draw was the minimum that we wanted.

‘We have everything in our hands now with 12 games including a home match against Sunderland.

‘It was a hard game which both teams wanted to win. There was so much pace in the game.

‘Both teams wanted to play with counter-attacks and we did not have time to play with control. It was not a boring game, there was a lot of action all the time.  

‘We were not so fresh on the counter-attack and didn’t play the last pass so well. We had lot of pressure in the last 30 minutes but it was not so easy to score.

‘I think we had the biggest chances after the penalty with Dani Pinillos, who was free in the 18-yard box, and Jacob Brown who hit the bar.’

The Tykes were indebted to captain and goalkeeper Adam Davies, who saved that Bogle penalty.

The spot kick had been awarded following Dimitri Cavare’s lunge on Blues winger Viv Solomon-Otabor.

Stendel added: ‘We are very happy that he saved the penalty and it was a very good performance.

‘It’s important that he is there when we need him which was the case on Saturday.

‘We have very good players for all positions including our goalkeeper, who helped us.’