The Barnsley FC squad spent the first night of their four-day trip to Spain in a Marbella restaurant partly owned by former footballers Stephen Carr, David Bentley and Dean Austin.

 

The players have been doing intense training sessions in Spain away from the training pitches at Oakwell that have been affected by the poor weather. They spent Sunday evening in Puerto Banus at the La Sala restaurant which regularly attracts celebrity diners such as Jamie Oliver, Harry Redknapp, Sir Alan Sugar, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Joe Cole.

 

The squad left for what manager David Flitcroft called a 'strategic working holiday' in Spain the day after their 5-3 loss at Bristol City on Saturday and will return on Wednesday. The trip was a reward for reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals, in which they will play at Manchester City.

 

"The league and FA Cup schedule has been very demanding on the players and they deserve a bit of a break," said Flitcroft.

 

"We will be training and planning in Spain but it is also a chance for the lads to spend some quality time together. We will reflect on what went wrong in Bristol but dust ourselves down and move on."