Alex Mowatt was sent off 42 minutes into his Barnsley debut as they lost 3-1 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The visitors took a fifth-minute lead then added a second late in the first half and Mowatt was shown a red card just before the break for a tackle. Wolves made it 3-0 late on before Reds captain Marc Roberts pulled one back.

Barnsley head coach Paul Heckingbottom and goalkeeping coach John Vaughan were sent to the stands in the second half after some pushing and shoving with Wolves staff on the sidelines.

The result dropped the Reds down one place to eighth in the Championship table, two points off the play-off places. 

Heckingbottom made four changes from the side that beat Rotherham United three days earlier with the match-winner in that game, Adam Armstrong, being dropped to the bench along with fellow striker Tom Bradshaw.

Adam Hammill and Ryan Williams came into the side who operated without a recognised striker as Marley Watkins, usually a right winger, played up top on his own. Matty James was also benched after making his first start in more than a year at Rotherham and was replaced by fellow January signing Mowatt. Callum Evans made his first career start at left-back due to an injury to Aidy White and because new signing Callum Elder had not been registered in time.

The Reds made a terrible start when Connor Ronan's corner from the right went past goalkeeper Adam Davies and his defenders and was tapped in on the line by Kortney Hause.

The visitors continued to cause problems from corners, with one scramble leading to Watkins having to deflect Dave Edwards' strike over his own bar.

Watkins was soon in action at the other end, heading a Mowatt corner agonisingly over then whipping a dangerous ball across face of goal as the Reds started to find their rhythm. Watkins then slipped through Mowatt but he was denied by an excellent one-on-one save by Wolves goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne.

Wolves still look dangerous and Ronan hit the post with a low 20-yard shot after he collected a pass from fellow 18-year-old Bright Enobakhare.

Edwards made it 2-0 on 36 minutes with a bullet header from Ronan's right wing free-kick then Mowatt was sent off for a rash challenge on Jack Price three minutes before the break.

It was almost even worse before the interval for the Reds as referee Christopher Kavanagh gave a penalty against Hammill for a foul on Enobakhare only to change his mind after talking to his assistant. Kavanagh left the pitch at half-time to fury from the home supporters.

Barnsley started the second half well and Williams came close with a header, before Heckingbottom and Vaughan were sent to the stands after a heated moment involving both sets of coaching staff. After a very quiet first 30 minutes of the second half, Edwards made it 3-0 with a close range finish when Adam Davies had saved Jon Dadi Bodvarsson's shot.

Roberts pulled one back with a tap-in after Burgoyne spilled a free-kick by Hammill, who then had a great chance to make it 3-2 after the ball broke to him in the box but he fired straight at the goalkeeper. Josh Scowen was just off target with a free-kick deep into injury-time but the Reds were beaten.