'Kicks in the ***** everywhere' - but why Darrell Clarke was more angry with his players after 'unacceptable' loss to Birmingham City

The hosts were good value for a 58th-minute lead when Stephen Humphrys’ cross-shot flew into the net via a deflection close to the goalline from Blues midfielder Paik Seung-Ho.

But Blues levelled straightaway, courtesy of a fine long-ranger from Stansfield.

The Reds - who lost influential defender Marc Roberts to injury early in the second half - were then reduced to ten men when Adam Phillips was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

While luck went against Barnsley - who should have been awarded a first-half penalty when Krystian Bielik clearly pulled the shirt of Humphrys in the box - Clarke was more angered with his side’s mentality in the final analysis.

Clarke, who revealed that Fabio Jalo picked up an injury in training on Friday with Josh Earl another absentee, said: "It was frustrating. Up until their equaliser, there were a lot of things which we were doing well.

"We were the team on the front foot for the majority of the game against a team who can open you up.

"We limited them to not really a chance and score a goal. But after that, it’s not acceptable to go into a 1-0 lead and celebrate.

"You want your players to enjoy a goal. Then I want a ‘reset’ and the ball to be in the back of our net 30 seconds later is not good enough.

"Those are the fine lines whether you actually want to be a winner or consistently winning. We have to be better than that.

"To give the second goal away from a set-piece and players not doing their jobs is unacceptable.

"You are not going to hear hard luck stories from me. As I said to the players after the game: ‘be a proper winner, not a nearly man.’

"To be a proper winner, you have to make sure you get the second or third goal and focus for 95 minutes and switch off when you score a goal.

"You have to be ruthless when you are on top in games and show that desire. And we’ve fallen short of that in the last five or six games."

Barnsley fans voiced their displeasure with boos aimed towards referee Thomas Parsons at the half-time whistle and at the end.

Clarke added: "I have not got much money, so I don’t want to say a lot about the referee. The fans will tell you how the referee performed today.

“The less said, the better.

"There’s been loads of blows and kicks in the ***** everywhere. Robbo has been outstanding and he’s injured. Fabio is injured - yesterday in training. Josh Earl is in the team and is injured.

"Sometimes, you can through these stages when these things happen, but I refuse to be a victim and the players be victims..”