Speaking to the official site Allardyce admitted he was particularly pleased with the debut of a young Dan Potts.
“It was a fantastic win,” said Sam. “What we had to cope with was not just Barnsley being a very good team but also a very potent striking force. They have won four out of the last five and they even scored three in the one they lost.
“They are on their best run of the season and I think that to have a back four like we had in the end - Henri Lansbury, George McCartney, Daniel Potts and James Tomkins - and get a clean sheet is great credit to the whole team. The lads in front worked so hard knowing that our back four was weakened.”
“It was a great debut from Pottsy, really very good defensively and in possession. We had Daniel in the last couple of days in case Abdoulaye wasn’t going to be fit. We played him in a couple of sessions with the back four. As in terms of training with the first-team squad, he has been doing that for a few weeks now. He has been used to coming and training with the senior players and of course to perform like that is great credit to him and his family.
“This is a 1-0 win that is very important to us on the back of the circumstances we come into the game. We had Injuries and suspensions before we started and when we did start, one player in the warm-up pulls up. It went from bad to worse to desperate but we still won the game and won well.”