Huddersfield boss Liam Manning delighted with Ryan Hardie’s contribution

Huddersfield head coach Liam Manning hailed Ryan Hardie’s quality after his goal from the bench proved decisive in a 2-1 comeback victory over Barnsley.

The Wrexham striker arrived on loan three weeks ago on transfer deadline day still carrying a knee injury, but scored off an assist from fellow substitute Cameron Ashia as the Terriers completed a turnaround from going a goal down just before the break.

Manning said of Hardie: “We were desperate to get him in, despite knowing he wasn’t going to be available for a few weeks, and he deserves huge credit for how he’s looked after himself.

“He had his first session back on Monday after eight weeks out, a very light session. He got a few minutes against Doncaster on Tuesday, then he’s been in light training again on Friday.

“So he’s not done a huge amount of training, to be honest – so for him to come and produce like that shows everything about why we were so keen to get him in.

“He causes problems off the back of people, he’s a really good finisher, and I’ve given him a bit of stick because he should have scored two!

“But the quality of the finish for his goal is top, and we needed that. We also needed Cam Ashia to come on and do what he did, and David Kasumu to come on and have the impact he did.

“We need everybody ready and the three lads who came on all raised the level of the team.”

Barnsley manager Conor Hourihane was left feeling his side deserved more for their efforts after their winless run on the road extended to eight games.

He said: “I thought we were good in spells. It was a really close game and coming out on the wrong side of it is disappointing.

“I thought the lads performed at a reasonably decent level, but there’s such fine margins in the game and we just didn’t finish with anything major in the final 25 minutes and we could be that little bit better.

“But compared with the past couple of away games – Bolton and Cardiff, both top-six sides – it’s probably the best we’ve played for a little bit on the road against the better teams.

“We had a plan to go a little bit longer in the first 45 minutes, and I thought we executed the game plan really, really well, particularly in the first half.

“We scored a great goal and we should have had a penalty as well before the goal, so at half-time we were worthy of being ahead.

“I didn’t feel like we were under the cosh second half, so it’s frustrating and disappointing for the lads.”