Alex Mowatt has been named the Championship player of the Month for March.
The Barnsley captain curled in a superb free-kick at QPR then assisted three other goals as his team surged into the top six. Head coach Valerien Ismael missed out on the manager’s award.
Meanwhile, Mowatt believes the final ten minutes in Barnsley’s Easter Monday win at Luton Town could be crucial for their promotion challenge.
The Reds captain decided not to take a penalty at 2-0 on 84 minutes, giving Daryl Dike the chance for a hat-trick which he missed then Luton scored seconds later. But Barnsley held on to win and stayed fifth in the Championship. Mowatt told the Chronicle: “It definitely could be important. From seeing the game out at 3-0 to being 2-1 in 30 seconds, a lot of teams would probably crumble there. But we saw it out and it shows what we’re about. We’ve seen games out really well this season and it’s another 2-1 win.
“We did it the hard way but we got the win which is the main thing.
“It’s all about picking up points, no one cares how well we played or how pretty it was.”
He added: “Everyone was a bit down in the dressing room because we conceded late and had to see the game out.
“But I went in and told them we should be buzzing because we won.”
Mowatt has seven goals and seven assists this season. He is the Championship’s top-scoring central midfielder and in the division’s top ten for assists. He said: “I want to keep scoring and assisting until the end of the season and see how many I can get from midfield. It’s tough to do that and I am proud of those numbers.”
Mowatt said he and his team-mates were tired in Luton as they played a second game in four days after the two-week international break.
“After a few weeks off then two tough games, everyone said the same thing.
“It was tough. A lot of the lads said their legs were heavy after playing on Friday then Monday. We have a bit of a rest now so we will use it.”
