Darrell Clarke is hoping for an instant reaction from his Barnsley players to their poor showing against Wigan on Saturday while he has provided an update on injuries and some players who have not been in recent squads.

The head coach criticised his side’s first half display in the 1-0 loss at the weekend. They now host another game, this time against fellow top ten side Reading on Tuesday evening.

Clarke told the Chronicle: “The players know they need to show a reaction but they will know it even more so after we review the game (on Monday). You don’t want to say too much after games. You want to watch it back at a wider angle on a review. Every game has a good and bad side to look at it. But we will go through a lot of the bad things from the first half rather than the good.”

He added: “There were a few things wrong – not enough runners at the top end, loose in possession, quite a few players had off days. We never got ourselves going. The changes we made had a good impact and we should have got something out of the game.”

Josh Benson has returned to training this week after injury while Max Watters is another week away from following him.

Meanwhile, Barry Cotter has been left out of the squad in recent weeks, with Corey O’Keeffe starting and Kyran Lofthouse on the bench.

Clarke said: “Barry is training hard. I have got three right wing-backs. Lofthouse has been chosen on the bench because he can play higher up and cover both wing-back options. Barry is training hard and really well.”

Clarke was asked about criticism from some fans of captain Luca Connell. The head coach said: “He had a poor game the other day but numerous players did. Some of decision-making, or shooting when we shouldn’t be shooting from ridiculous distances. I don’t single players out. Luca is a top top player with a great mentality. All players have good and bad days. I am sure he will bounce back. He gets a massive amount of interest from Championship clubs. He has had some really good performances this season.”