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Johnson hails standout duo

Image: Lee Johnson: Singled out duo for praise

Lee Johnson lavished praise on two players at opposite ends of the age scale after Barnsley drew 2-2 with Bristol City.

Striker Jabo Ibehre, 32, scored one goal and made another while 19-year-old goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith marked his debut on loan from Sheffield Wednesday with some outstanding late saves. Johnson said: "When Jabo is on his game he is unplayable and I thought that was the case today. He is so strong and good on the ball. "Young Joe was outstanding too. We threw him into the lions' den against the league leaders and he responded magnificently. "I was disappointed with our first-half display. We conceded a penalty through a poor challenge and there wasn't enough tempo to our play. "But after a chat at half-time - when I told the players to go out and prove they were as good as Bristol City - the performance was excellent and we sent our fans home happy. "I want us to be bold in trying to achieve a top-six finish and in the end we played like that." It took an 84th-minute equaliser from Joe Bryan to stop Barnsley going home with all three points. The left wing-back netted with a right-footed volley from the edge of the box just after Wildsmith had marked his full Football League debut with two brilliant saves as the hosts produced a grandstand finish. Marlon Pack had put City ahead from the penalty spot after 13 minutes when Barnsley centre-back Jean-Yves Mvoto went to ground unnecessarily to trip Kieran Agard. But Ibehre equalised with a low shot on the turn in a crowded box just before the break and then set up Josh Scowen to round Frank Fielding and fire Barnsley ahead. Bristol City boss Steve Cotterill admitted his team were well below their best for much of the game in their first appearance after winning the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, but was far from downhearted. "When you have taken as many points as we have over the course of the season a draw is not a bad result and again our boys have shown tremendous character," he stressed. "This game was always going to be a test after all the emotion expended at Wembley last weekend and it took us 70 minutes to get over that. "Our passing was not as quick as usual and after taking the lead we sat back a bit, which is not like us. "It took a couple of substitutions and a change of shape to get us going at the end. But from then on we had some great chances and should have won the game."

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