Cauley Woodrow does not care if most, or all, of his goals keep coming from the penalty spot as long as he is scoring and helping Barnsley win.
The striker netted his seventh of the season in 16 games in all competitions with the winner in Wednesday’s 2-1 success over Wycombe Wanderers, meaning he has 41 in 94 Reds games.
Five of his six league goals this season have been from the spot.
Woodrow told the Chronicle: “It doesn’t bother me at all and it doesn’t matter where they come from. The penalties are getting us points. If I get the opportunity to score from open play, like I have proved however many times since I have been at this club, I will take it. But the penalties keep coming and, if I have 15 this season, I will take that.”
Woodrow says he does not set himself goal targets but is hoping to beat last season’s tally of 15. He admits it was challenging to score from open play on Wednesday then see the referee insist on a penalty, for an earlier foul, which he managed to dispatch.
“I was a little bit gutted but it’s part of the game, the ref blew the whistle then I had to do my little routine and put it away. I am just happy I was able to help the lads win the game.
“Wycombe were doing their best to put me off, standing in the box, doing anything they could to delay me.
“The ‘keeper was having a few words. But that’s part of the game and I came out on top. It doesn’t matter how you win games as long as you get three points. It was not a pretty one at all.
“We were aware of what the game was going to be like, Wycombe are good at what they do but we dealt with it really really well. I had to do a lot of things I don’t normally do, with a lot of headers. But I did what I could to help the team. It’s not just about my goals, it’s about my all-round play.”
The other scorer on Wednesday was Callum Styles with his third of the season. Woodrow said: “He’s a massive talent. He showed what he could do last season and this season he has really come into his own and scored important goals. He has a massive future ahead of him and, if he keeps working hard like he has been, the sky is the limit.”
Barnsley are 16th but Woodrow wants more. He said: “We are not just looking at mid-table, we’re looking higher than that. But the manager is massive on taking every game as it comes so that’s what we’re doing. We won’t get over excited or take our foot off the gas, we just have to keep working hard, grinding out results then we’ll see where we end up at the end of the season. We are on the right path at the moment.”
