Barnsley boss Darrell Clarke on absence of Callum Styles and his reaction to opening League One loss to Mansfield Town

For the third successive summer, Styles’ future remains uncertain, with West Brom seeing a bid rejected for him last week and other clubs being currently interested.

Clarke, whose side lost out 2-1 to his hometown club, said: “Callum is having a lot of interest at the minute and a few clubs are coming in for him.

"He didn’t feel in the right frame of mind and so I didn’t involve him, to be honest. I’d rather play players whose mindset is in the right place.

"Callum has not been a problem since I have been in the building. I understand it, but if it’s not right for the football club, he won’t be going anywhere. There’s quire a bit of interest in him at the minute.”

Clarke’s side endured a nightmare start at Oakwell against the Stags in the Nottinghamshire outfit’s first game at this level in over two decades.

A brilliant opener from Stephen Quinn put Nigel Clough’s side in front and Lee Gregory soon added to their advantage inside the opening 20 minutes.

New captain Luca Connell, outstanding on the night, pulled a goal back on 32 minutes and despite Barnsley dominating much of the remainder of the game, they couldn’t find a leveller and missed several chances with their run without a home win - they last picked up three points at Oakwell on February 24 - continuing.

Clarke, who made an early tactical change when he switched to a back four and brought debutant Georgie Gent off on 26 minutes, added: “We were all over the shop in that early part.

"We’d worked on a game plan and how we were going to hurt them and never got any control in that first 20 minutes and they were coming through us way too easy.

"That’s cost us the game, to be honest. The changes probably helped us get a foothold in the game and then we get back in it and miss a lot of chances to get back in the game. It was very frustrating.

“Georgie did nothing wrong whatsoever, it was just the shape and they were overrunning our midfield and it needed to be changed. Once we made that change, we were in control for large amounts of the game, although from the last 10 to 15 minutes when we looked a little bit desperate.

On the need for forward reinforcements, he acknowledged: “That hasn’t changed since I came into the building, to be honest. But it’s not just strikers’ responsibility to score goals, but throughout the team. Players had good chances and strikers had good chances.”

New keeper Gabriel Slonina, who has joined on loan from Chelsea for the 2024-25 season, was introduced to the crowd at half-time.

Clarke said: “He’s a top keeper and competitions for places is what we want and we need to keep adding that in the right places and obviously at the top end is going to be pivotal as well moving forward."