Daniel Stendel happy with Barnsley new boys in win at Leyton Orient

Barnsley head coach Daniel Stendel praised new boys Makenzie Kirk and Connor O’Riordan, as they ran out 3-1 winners at Leyton Orient.

Victory at the Betwright Stadium was their first in the league this season, with a confident display throughout.

With Kirk netting his debut goal, alongside a Cameron McGeehan penalty and a Reyes Cleary effort, Stendel was pleased with the performances of his two signings.

He said: “Kirk took the duels today. When he fought he created chances.

“Every time there is a new player coming in, especially with a striker, there’s always a need for confidence. It’s a good sign for Kirk, and it’s a good sign for us.

“With O’Riordan, we saw exactly what we wanted from him when we signed him. Two young centre backs allows us to defend high and both did that really well today.

“We did what we wanted to do, especially in the second half. It’s a young group with a lot of new players. It’s a lot of energy, especially in the second half because we fought a lot. It was a really good performance.”

The hosts took the lead after 15 minutes, when Kirk converted a cross from Cleary into the box.

However, Barnsley deservedly got their second from the spot on 64 minutes via captain McGeehan, after James Morris fouled Amani Richards.

Barnsley looked for more goals and they got their third with 14 minutes left, when Cleary curled his effort past Phillips after good work from Tyrese Noslin.

There was a consolation on 84 minutes for the hosts, when Nicholas Oyekunle broke free to slot past Rogan Ravenhill.

Leyton Orient looked flat after Barnsley went ahead and Richie Wellens rued the mistakes from his charges.

He said: “For the first 10 minutes we were pretty good, but then there were about four or five stoppages – and Barnsley dominated afterwards.

“What summed it up was the first goal, about 30 seconds earlier their goalkeeper passed it straight to us and we didn’t get a shot on target.

“When we get it right we look alright, but when we get it wrong we get it badly wrong.

“If you look at our injury list, a club like ours with a budget like ours can’t carry that and have a product on the pitch that can compete at this level.

“That’s no disrespect to the players. We gave keeper Noah Phillips his league debut and Phil Chinedu is on his third or fourth game on the bounce – both needed taking out today.”