Verdict: Barnsley 0 Derby County 3 '“ Barnsley's naivete is ruthlessly exposed by Derby

Rewind the clock to December 2015 and the club were in the middle of a wretched run in League One.

They were marooned in the relegation zone and had not long since lost eight games on the spin.

Suddenly a resurgence began during one night in Essex.

A 3-2 win at Colchester, achieved almost two years ago to this day, started the club’s memorable climb up the League One rankings.

That was the first win in a series that saw them record eight victories in a nine-game sequence.

The season would end with double celebrations, as not only did they earn the most unlikely of promotions, but they also claimed the Football League Trophy. Halcyon days indeed.

How the Oakwell faithful must wish they can spark a similar upturn in fortunes when they head to Brentford on Saturday.

The current winter of discontent has seen the Reds lose five consecutive league games, although they still have a four-point buffer between themselves and the relegation places.

But this latest defeat, to a ruthlessly clinical Derby County side, shows what the club is up against.

First-half strikes from Tom Lawrence and Matej Vydra knocked the stuffing out of the hosts before Andreas Weimann capped off a terrific performance by plundering the visitors’ third.

Derby’s squad list is littered with internationals and multi-million pound assets. Barnsley, in stark contrast, are reduced to foraging for free transfers, loans and placing their faith in youth.

The average age for manager Paul Heckingbottom’s starting XI here was just 23 – compared to 30 for the Rams.

Midfielder Gary Gardner, even at the relatively young age of 25, can be considered one of the older heads in the Oakwell camp. The midfielder, on a season’s loan from Championship rivals Aston Villa, is in his seventh season as a professional.

“It’s just a bad run and I’ve been around long enough to know it will change,” said Gardner.

“There’s a lot of hungry, young lads here. We won’t shy away from this challenge.

“It’s a big challenge for us, but it’s one I think we will overcome.

“There’s a lot of honest lads. We just have to take it in our stride and get through it.”

Gardner and his peers are not only in the middle of a losing rut but are also not finding the back of the net. Another shutout means the Reds have now failed score in open play for 493 playing minutes – over eight hours.

However, Gardner believes the team’s efforts in front of goal will soon bear fruit thanks to their tireless training ground work under Heckingbottom.

“Confidence is a major thing,” added Gardner. “We need to get that first goal. Hopefully our luck will change soon and some of the chances that we are creating will start to go in.

“We work so hard in training throughout the week and work on lots of things.

“The manager, the staff and the players all work really hard.

“There’s a lot of energy in the side and we just have to stick together now.”

The game got off to a slow start, but it was the hosts who showed their hand first.

Mamadou Thiam, who cut a lively figure on one flank with Harvey Barnes on the other, unleashed the first effort on target.

A minute later Barnes almost marked his 20th birthday with a goal as he cut inside and smacked a sweet shot that Scott Carson managed to tip behind for a corner. Barnsley had arguably been the better side up until that point, but it was the visitors who opened the scoring, against the run of play, on 39 minutes.

Weimann clipped the ball into the box and Lawrence was on hand to cut inside and fire past Adam Davies.

The Reds’ goalkeeper got a hand to the shot, but it was not enough to prevent it from going in.

It then went from bad to worse just five minutes later when the hosts were caught napping again.

Chris Baird fed the overlapping Weimann and his pullback found Vydra who slotted past Davies with consummate ease.

Thiam smacked a shot wide after the restart as the Reds looked to get back into the contest before Brad Potts saw his effort crash back off the crossbar.

Barnsley knew one goal would put a different slant on proceedings and they could not have gone closer through substitute Ike Ugbo.

The replacement striker was assisted by Barnes and looked destined to reduce the arrears only for Carson to pull off a tremendous close-range save.

Perhaps that was the point when the hosts realised it was not their day.

For Derby rubbed salt in the wounds on 78 minutes when Weimann capped off a fine afternoon as he lashed a shot beyond Davies from 20 yards out.

Heckingbottom acknowledges that his young crop of players are finding out how cut-throat life in the Championship can be.

The Barnsley chief said: “What our players are finding out is how tough this league is. When you’re getting punished for mistakes with quality that’s the difference from being in the lower leagues.”

Barnsley: Davies, McCarthy, Pearson, Lindsay, Yiadom, Potts (Hammill 60), Williams, Gardner (Moncur 60), Thiam (Ugbo 72), Barnes, Bradshaw. Unused substitutes: Townsend, Mallan, Fryers, McGeehan.

Derby: Carson, Baird, Davies, Keogh, Forsyth, Lawrence (Russell 46), Ledley, Huddlestone, Weimann, Martin (Winnall 80), Vydra (Johnson 71). Unused subtitutes: Mitchell, Wisdom, Nugent, Thorne.

Referee: T Robinson (West Sussex).