BARNSLEY manager Darrell Clarke accused his team of “ruining” a “proud night” for him at Old Trafford.
And he threatened to SLAP his players if he ever heard them criticising Premier League stars.
The Tykes suffered a brutal 7-0 defeat to Manchester United on Tuesday following goals from Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, Christian Eriksen and Antony.
They subsequently crashed out of the Carabao Cup in the third round, leaving manager Clarke furious.
The 46-year-old did not shy away from criticising his players after the match and even claimed they “ruined” the occasion.
He said: “I have had a go at them. I wasn’t happy with the performance, I know we have come to Man United, who have world class players, but I wasn’t happy with how we played.
“Mael (de Gevigney) was the only player who comes out with credit. Did the occasion get to some of them? Yes probably. We have to understand what it takes to be a top player.
“Don’t ever let me hear one of them talking about how bad some Premier League players are. They are miles off. The players were miles off the standards of a top Barnsley player tonight never mind a top Premier League player.
“It was a proud night for myself but it’s been ruined by the performance.”
In a separate interview with Sky Sports, Clarke added: “If I ever hear one of my players tell me Premier League players when they’re watching a game and they’re saying they’re poor, I’ll be giving them a slap because they’re miles off, we were miles off against a team that can absolutely destroy you when you’re not at it.”
FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS
He went on to add: “What I will say is, I cannot thank our fans enough. Unbelievable.
“I just said to the players, they didn’t deserve that reception after the game.
“They paid a fortune to come to this game, backed us in their numbers, sang every minute of the game. I can’t thank them enough.
“We need to repay the fans with a proper performance on Saturday. End of.”
Barnsley were competitive for the opening 30 minutes of the match but struggled defensively.
Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag was thrilled with his team’s performance.
He said: “First of all, it was a difficult start but, once we found the shape, it’s not so weird because it’s the first time this team is playing together.
“But once we found the shape and the patterns, we scored some great goals, starting with Rashford which was a brilliant goal but I’d also say some other goals were really good.
“We played with a lot of speed and we were very ruthless in front of the goal.”
