Neill Collins is confident play-off chasing Barnsley can overcome their recent struggles after a 2-1 defeat to Stevenage leaves them looking over their shoulder at a crucial time in the season.
Goals from Jamie Reid and Dan Butler either side of the break earned Boro victory and they now sit within three points of sixth-placed Oxford, albeit having played a game more.
Barnsley, who had taken the lead through Adam Phillips’ 30th-minute strike, are precariously in fifth having taken just eight points from their last eight games, hitting a difficult patch of form at a crucial stage.
But Collins assured supporters it is only a matter of small margins to get them back on track.
He said: “People might make more of it than it is. We are disappointed with some of the recent results but I don’t think it will take a lot to turn it around.
“This is the first time we have lost two consecutive games since the third and fourth game of the season. The players have been really resilient and it was going to be tough tonight.
“There is no getting away that the recent run of results we have had, especially with the fixtures we have had, it’s not been good enough.
“I think we have been very consistent prior to that and I think we will get that back. At times we have been victims of our own mistakes but I think we need to not blow everything about proportion.
“We need to concentrate on getting the small margins back in our favour because I think that’s all it is.”
Victory for Stevenage brought an eight-game winless streak to an end. And with Steve Evans’ side playing Oxford next and the U’s also playing seventh-placed Lincoln, he believes Boro are still in with a chance of breaking back into the play-off spots.
He said: “Not often do I say that I’m prepared to lose, but I’m prepared to lose in a major way to try and win.
“The players just knew the mission for tonight was to get the three points and they got them and have gone in quietly. We will regroup and freshen up for Saturday.
“We have to win every game. We have been on the wrong end of some tough stuff and I said to them at half-time we can play eight up front tonight because that will be the way it will be.
“The managers that fail at this level continuously are not prepared to lose, but you have to be prepared to lose to win games.
“Neil Harris and Neil Warnock are specialists at it because in their heart they try to win and that is in me.”
Manchester City 5-1 Wolves: Haaland scores four as rampant Citizens respond to Arsenal win
Erling Haaland's four-goal haul ensured Manchester City continued their Premier League title charge with a 5-1 triumph over Wolves, as Pep Guardiola's team responded to Arsenal's victory earlier on Saturday in style.
Arsenal moved four points clear at the league summit with their 3-0 win over Bournemouth but Haaland eased any City nerves with his dominant first-half hat-trick at Etihad Stadium.
That quickfire treble included two penalties before Haaland added to his tally after the interval – following Hwang Hee-chan's consolation strike – to move to a competition-leading 25 goals this term.
Haaland’s replacement Julian Alvarez added further gloss late on, as City, who have a game in hand on Arsenal, cut the gap to the Gunners to just one point. Wolves remain 11th with just one win in their past eight league games.
City needed just 12 minutes to take the lead. Rayan Ait-Nouri conceded a penalty for an inadvertent collision with Josko Gvardiol, and Haaland made no mistake from the spot after a VAR review confirmed the on-field decision, sending Jose Sa the wrong way and sweeping into the bottom-left corner.
Sa was equal to Haaland shortly after, though, tipping away the striker's header following Bernardo Silva's right-wing centre – but the Wolves goalkeeper was powerless to prevent the Norwegian doubling his tally after 35 minutes, as Haaland climbed high to redirect Rodri’s back-post centre into the bottom-right corner.
And Haaland had his hat-trick when, on the stroke of half-time, he repeated the trick from 12 yards after he had drawn a clumsy challenge from Nelson Semedo, with the VAR having recommended an onfield review of the incident.
Wolves reduced the deficit eight minutes into the second half as Hwang fired into an empty net from Ederson's unconvincing punch, though City restored their three-goal advantage just a minute later.
Haaland latched onto Phil Foden's over-the-top pass before cutting inside and blasting an arrowed left-footed strike into the top-left corner for the finest of his four strikes.
There was time for City to increase their goal difference, too, as substitute Alvarez wrapped up the scoring after Rodri regained possession high before finding the Argentine, who angled a low effort across Sa.
Golden Boot within Haaland’s grasp
For every Arsenal victory, Guardiola's side continue to respond with three points of their own and still boast a game in hand away against Tottenham to move clear of the Gunners.
City are now unbeaten in their last 20 Premier League games (W15 D4), becoming the second side to manage a streak of 20+ undefeated league matches on five separate occasions – after fierce rivals Manchester United (seven).
That is in large part thanks to Haaland, whose four goals came in just 54 minutes here. Only Gabriel Jesus has scored as many times earlier in a Premier League game, finding the net four times in 53 minutes against Watford in April 2022.
He is now five clear of his rivals in the hunt for the Premier League Golden Boot, and surely he has all but wrapped up that award now.
Frustration grows at Wolves
Gary O'Neil has regularly voiced his concerns over the depth of Wolves' squad, with his side suffering from numerous injury issues across a troubled season.
Matheus Cunha and Ait-Nouri – the latter who conceded the first penalty for an accidental collision with Gvardiol – returned to the starting XI from injury, but that did little to mask Wolves' problems.
Injuries have played their part in hampering O'Neil's tenure, though this clash was a stark reminder of their shortcomings – Wolves have now lost eight of their last nine Premier League visits to Man City.
Terzic hopeful of Wembley send-off for Dortmund hero Reus
Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus will leave the club after 12 years at the end of the season but a Champions League final at Wembley would see his career at the Ruhr valley club come full circle, said coach Edin Terzic said on Saturday.
Reus scored once and set up two more goals in their 5-1 win over Augsburg on Saturday as Dortmund prepare to face Paris Saint-Germain in their return leg in France on Tuesday after their 1-0 first leg win in Germany earlier this week.
The Germans, Champions League winners in 1997, are hoping to make their first final in the competition since 2013 when they lost to Bayern Munich at Wembley.
A return to that stadium for this year's final would be a fitting finale for Reus' Dortmund career, Terzic said.
"Yes, a cycle would close," Terzic said. "It was in his first season at Dortmund that he played at Wembley and it would be perfect to return there," Terzic told a press conference.
"He is a living legend. He has put all other stories in the shadow today.
"What I wish is that the Marco Reus festival lasts for another month and we experience a few more games together," Terzic said.
The 34-year-old, who joined in 2012 and also spent a decade at the Ruhr Valley club as a youth player, has scored 169 goals in 425 matches for Dortmund while setting up another 130.
Reus won two German Cups but did not collect any other major titles, agonisingly missing out on his first ever Bundesliga trophy last season on the final matchday.
Dortmund are in fifth place in the Bundesliga with two games remaining. They were at risk of missing out on Champions League football next season before their win over PSG sealed a fifth spot for Germany in next season's competition.
Bayern Munich defender Guerreiro doubtful for Real Madrid match - Tuchel
Bayern Munich defender Raphael Guerreiro is doubtful for next week's Champions League semi-final return leg at Real Madrid after he picked up an injury in their 3-1 loss to Stuttgart on Saturday, head coach Thomas Tuchel has said.
Bayern, who also had Eric Dier taken off at half-time with a head injury, face Real in Spain on Wednesday after their 2-2 draw in Munich earlier this week.
Portugal international Guerreiro was taken off in the 17th minute after he hurt his ankle in an attempt to block a shot.
"Raphael Guerreiro needed crutches to walk. It is very, very bitter for us. He was supposed to get some playing time today to be ready for Wednesday. Instead, now we have to see what happens," Tuchel told reporters.
"Eric Dier had to get stitches to the head wound that then opened up again so we at some point said it was enough. We did not want to risk it."
Bayern have several injury concerns, with defender Matthijs De Ligt still doing individual training and fellow defender Dayot Upamecano, who came on for Dier, working back to full fitness after recovering from injury.
"If there ever was a day when we needed to put this behind us quickly then it is today, and we see what we need for Wednesday," Tuchel said.
"The medical meetings at the moment are more maths than medical. Who is on 60 per cent, who on 30 per cent, who can't play at all," said the coach, who will leave at the end of the season following a disappointing domestic run.
Bayern are second in the league, two points ahead of Stuttgart in third and with two games left to play. The title has already been wrapped up by leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
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