Saturday 14 February 2015 19:37, UK
Caretaker Mark Burton accused Barnsley of "throwing in the towel" following their 5-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Crawley.
A hat-trick from striker Izale McLeod and further goals from Sonny Bradley and Marvin Elliott sent Barnsley crashing to their seventh successive away defeat. Burton, put in temporary charge along with Paul Heckingbottom following this week's sacking of Danny Wilson, admitted he was "absolutely gutted" for the 420 travelling fans and promised changes for the home game against Crewe next Saturday. Burton said: "We collapsed in the second half and didn't show enough character. Obviously we are all devastated, including the staff. "The players made mistakes, it was an absolute horror show and I'm devastated for the fans .Three or four of the players threw in the towel. "I'm a Barnsley lad and I'm up for the fight but this hurts more than anything." Substitute Kane Hemmings scored Barnsley's only goal to pull it back to 3-1, but the Reds have taken only 13 points from their last 14 league games and Burton said this kind of display will not be tolerated. He added: "Crawley smelt blood and all credit to them. There will be a positive reaction next Saturday, I can assure you. "We lose and win together and I really feel for the fans as performances need to be better. No place is safe and I hope the players are feeling embarrassed." Crawley's interim boss Dean Saunders admitted he has gone through one extreme to other in the last two games having seen his side hammered 5-0 at home to Doncaster in their previous outing. The former Liverpool and Wales star said: "I knew when I took the job that we wouldn't win every game, and now we are looking to win six more matches to stay up. "It was a great way to respond to losing 5-0 to Doncaster and we showed what we are made of." Crawley had only won one of their previous 18 games in league and cup and Saunders said he "enjoyed" seeing the confidence return to the players. He added: "When I came in I knew we'd get a couple of pastings and my job is to put the pastings behind us and we have now got to focus on getting those six more wins. "Seeing what we practiced in training work was very pleasing and that will come with confidence. "I'm delighted Izale McLeod is up to 16 goals now and he should be aiming for 20. He was clincial and every time he had the ball I thought he'd score."
