Sheffield United: 'You can be as good as you want to be' Lys Mousset is told after two goal salvo against Barnsley

The Frenchman scored for the second and third time in his last two appearances as Slavisa Jokanovic’s side survived a dramatic comeback from Markus Schopp’s team at Oakwell, before being substituted with what the visiting manager described as a “small” calf problem.

Although Jokanovic told The Star that Mousset’s tally since recovering from the hamstring injury which sidelined him for two months at the beginning of the season is a reminder of the 25-year-old’s ability, he said: “I believe he still has a huge gap for improvement. We will demand a lot from him, we will help him and push him in the right way. But we also expect cooperation from him.

“He is cooperating with us in some way at the moment to try and get to the optimum level. He has the talent and the speed in his body. He showed the quality he had with the finishes and was a big problem for the Barnsley defenders but in the end we had to take a decision (to make a substitution) because of a small problem.”

After a forgettable first-half, United seemed to be cruising when Ben Osborn claimed their third of the afternoon having already created both of Mousset’s efforts. But Barnsley struck back when substitutes Devante Cole and Aaron Leya Iseka both found the back of the net as the hosts attempted to avoid slipping to a sixth straight defeat.

Jokanovic accused United of giving their opponents ``oxygen” during the closing stages and, amid concerns that Mousset’s lifestyle away from the game has contributed to his poor fitness record, will have been disappointed to see him fail to finish the contest.

“How good can he be? That depends on Lys,” Jokanovic said. “He can do important things for us and I expect him to become more important. We don’t want him to damage himself and we are here to try and help and support him. He can be a big success and very important for us if he shows the same cooperation.”