Barnsley FC boss Michael Duff on half-time 'tweaks', a 'yardstick' win over Plymouth Argyle & praise for Devante Cole

After an even first-half, the hosts dominated the second 45 minutes and goals from Adam Phillips, Mads Andersen - who netted for the first time this term - and Nicky Cadden secured a magnificent win over second-placed Argyle.

It followed up recent highs on home soil against Portsmouth and Derby, with Barnsley having reduced the gap between themselves and Plymouth to eight points, with the South Yorkshire club having two games in hand.

Duff, whose side were second best in their opening-day loss at Home Park, said: "One of the most pleasing things when I go home is probably a yardstick of where we have come as a group from the first game of the season to now.

"There's been a lot of hard work and it takes time, but there's an effort and application and demand on each other.

"It doesn't guarantee you results, but it helps.

"It probably wasn't a 3-0 game as there were two good teams going at it. The first-half was a little bit cagey and I thought we were a little bit passive on a couple of our presses and did not quite use the ball well enough. For the first time, we were a little bit anxious. The players knew the magnitude of the game.

"We got in at half-time and tweaked a few things and were a bit more aggressive in the press. We survived a bit of a scare in the first 30 seconds of the second half and from that moment on, we went from strength to strength and you could feel the momentum building because we were so aggressive in our press.

"It put them on the back foot and the crowd got involved with it and the confidence started to grow and grow. We did not step off and finished really strongly.

"You look around and there were lots and lots of good performances. There were lots of pleasing things as they are a very good team."

Duff brought Devante Cole off at the interval and was full of praise for his attitude in taking the decision and not 'sulking.'

He said: "Credit to Devante, he got taken off at half-time and could have sulked and made it about him. And he took it. He's been absolutely brilliant and has run his socks off for the last how many months.

"With the quality we have got now, we just felt he looked half a yard off it. It was not that he was poor. But those are the options we have got now. Don't wait five minutes, just go and do it.

"Devante came off and wished all the players the best. Ultimately, we have all won - the players in and out of the squad and the supporters, staff, board - everyone.

"That was a really pleasing sign of where the group is at. You talk about egos all the time and he did not make it about himself. He would not have liked it, but will have respected the decision and we will all go home winners."

The character of the group also shone on Friday when many had travelled in through the snow deluge to training, despite difficulties in terms of travel, with the Reds pre-match disruption far from ideal.

Duff continued: "In training yesterday, we did not train until noon and it took some three hours to get in and it probably disrupted our preparations more than Plymouth as they got the bus and travelled up as normal. But that tells you everything about the group."