THE mood music at Barnsley home games is not harmonious at the minute and Darrell Clarke has no issue whatsoever with the angst prevalent among supporters.

Aside from a bit of animation in the final half-hour or so when the Reds came from behind twice to salvage a point against Wycombe, the atmosphere veered from flat to agitated as the hosts’ difficulties at Oakwell continued.

In that regard, Clarke felt his team were their own worst enemies due to their slow, passive play, especially in playing out from the back. His side have won just one of his five home league matches thus far in 2024-25 and Clarke had been hoping for an intense, front-foot performance following the weekend disappointments against Stockport.

Instead he got more of the same.

THE GREAT LEVELLER: Marc Roberts celebrates scoring Barnsley's second equaliser against Wycombe on Tuesday night at Oakwell. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

placeholder image — THE GREAT LEVELLER: Marc Roberts celebrates scoring Barnsley's second equaliser against Wycombe on Tuesday night at Oakwell. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

He said: “I don’t have a problem with the atmosphere because if we are going to be building too slow like we were, certainly in the first half, it will always cause grievances.

“We have to work on that and make sure it doesn’t happen because it just gets the fans wound up.

“I don’t understand why Gabs (Gaga Slonina) was having too many touches on the ball and not making things as quick as what we should be.

“It’s something I will speak to Gabs and my goalie coach about as we need more urgency and want to be on the front foot.”

QUICK-STEP: Barnsley head coach Darrell Clarke. Picture: Tony Johnson.

Clarke tried several formations in a bid to inject some thrust and urgency into the Reds on the night, but afterwards he admitted that he is still searching for answers regarding the make-up of his side.

He continued: "I am always honest with my players.

"It's up to me and my coaching staff to keep working away to get better because all it seems to be at the minute is that I am searching for answers.

"I played three formations again to try and get that right result. We work on plan B's and C's and have an understanding about what can potentially happen.

"But we aren't executing on a consistent basis with the ball.

“People harp on about formations and sometimes we look at variants of formations, but if you don’t look after the ball, it doesn’t matter what formation you have got on a consistent basis.

“At the minute, there’s not many players saying ‘I am going to be a regular.’

"A lot aren’t at the levels I think they are capable of getting to.

"They have got to rise to those levels if they want to stay here and kick on."