Barnsley boss Neill Collins addresses possibility of January window signings after defeat to Exeter City

The Reds had embarked on an 11-match unbeaten league run before Exeter pulled off a shock at Oakwell.

It was a loss likely to fuel desire for reinforcements among fans, but Collins is remaining cautious.

The final days of the January transfer window are synonymous with panic buys but there does not appear to be danger of any being sanctioned at Oakwell.

Collins has stressed the importance of only adding players who can improve the squad.

He said: “I think it depends who it is. It always depends, it's important we bring in players who are going to make us better. I think we've got a pretty good squad size, [there's] probably a couple of areas that we'd like to strengthen.

"We've done that with Donovan [Pines]. It still comes back to what's going to make us better, and does it fit in with the resources that the club has?”

The defeat to Exeter was the second consecutive home game in which Barnsley have failed to convince.

Collins, however, did not see similarities between the narrow win over Carlisle United and the loss to Exeter.

He explained: “I think it was a lot worse than Carlisle because Carlisle was down to individual mistakes. We made two or three poor individual mistakes.

"Carlisle was a scrappy game, watching it back, really taking away the two or three clearly individual mistakes, there was nothing in it. We came out second-half and went on to win the game.

"Today, across the whole pitch, we lacked the intensity from the start.

“The fans were absolutely right with their reaction at half time. You just make it too hard for yourself when you're as poor as that, despite creating enough chances in the second half to win the game."

Although keen to stress his frustration with Barnsley’s display, Collins was also complimentary of Exeter’s approach to the game.

The Grecians showed little hesitation in going for the jugular early on, despite their comparatively low league standing.

Collins said: “They've come through a bad spell, they've got some players back fit, they won the other night.

“I think they knew they had to be like that to give themselves a chance. We are disappointed with how we played but equally, Gary [Caldwell, Exeter manager] will be pleased with how they played.

“Credit to Exeter, they gave us a really tough afternoon, especially in the first half.”