Valerien Ismael was delighted to give Barnsley fans a 'Merry Christmas present' in their 2-1 victory at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

The hosts took the lead but goals by Cauley Woodrow and Dominik Frieser secured a first Reds victory at Hillsborough since 2009.

Ismael told the Chronicle: "I said nothing after the game in the dressing room because I felt the emotion from the guys. Normally I say something but today it is for the guys, the club and the fans. The guys made a very good job to show the mentality to come back in the game, and to raise the bar to another level for this season.

"After the Wycombe game, the guys were very very focused on this game and I had a very good feeling. It is an important win that can give us big confidence for the next games.

"It is our Merry Christmas present to the fans. I hope they enjoy it. I hope we are not waiting 11 years to win against Sheffield Wednesday again. We play at Oakwell against them this season and I hope fans are in the stadium and maybe we can in front of them again."

Jack Walton rushed out of his area and did not get the ball in the fourth minute, allowing Josh Windass to score. Ismael said: "After the game it is easy to say but I think that goal was a perfect thing for us because the guys knew they had to do something.

"If you can come back and win a game, it is a good thing. We say to the guys that you can make mistakes but you have to learn from these mistakes. We came from behind at Birmingham and we did it today as well.

"In the second half we defended well and we were well-organised but I was not completely happy because we were too deep. I can understand for the guys it is a tough schedule but they gave everything to win the game."

Frieser – who played under Ismael at LASK in Austria last season – got the winning goal, his second for the club, after being benched for the previous four games.

Ismael said: "I am very happy for Friesy. Last season he scored very very important goals all the time in the league and the Europa League. I am very delighted for him and I think it's a breakthrough for him in England."

Frieser added: "It is a really good feeling. It was a perfect day for us. We know it means a lot to the people to win this game. Everybody talks about this game and we win after 11 years.

"I live in Sheffield. My neighbour is a Wednesday fan and I told him we would win and I would score.

"We conceded early but you have 85 minutes to turn it and our mentality at the moment is really good. We knew we could turn the game and we did.

"For my goal, was a really nice combination. I was just thinking about hitting the target. It went in and it was a really nice feeling."