MICHAEL Duff says Barnsley can take lessons from England’s 2-1 World Cup quarter-final loss to France and praised the performance of ex-Red John Stones.
The Three Lions fell behind twice to the holders with Harry Kane levelling with a penalty then missing another late on which would have made it 2-2.
Stones, from Thurlstone, limped off in injury-time with an injury.
Duff said: “I thought England were good and deserved to win. I didn’t think the referee had a great game. But it’s a perfect reminder for our lads – if you’re the better team, it doesn’t mean you will win. There will be a lot of disappointment because it’s another chance missed but it gives you an idea of how far they have come if people are disappointed after the last few years. In my lifetime they had only got to the semi-final once in 1990. There has been a lot of money invested into academies and the England youth set-up. They are winning youth World Cups and Euros and that is starting to trickle down.
“It’s disappointing but, if you take the emotion out of it, it has been another successful campaign.”
On Stones, Duff said: “I think I played against him at Oakwell and he played right-back. He’s been great. Going into the World Cup, people were saying the centre-backs were the weakest part of the team. It’s fair to say they played pretty well. You don’t go for £50million if you’re not a good player. He’s grown up at Man City in terms of off the pitch lifestyle. He has matured into the player everyone thought he was going to be.”
