Barnsley players '˜didn't influence referee' over QPR red card

Manning had only been on the pitch for four minutes before clattering into Mills and being shown red.

After the Hoops man flew into Mills a couple of the Reds’ player charged in the direction of referee Tony Harrington.

But debutant Mills stressed: “This is a great group of lads and I don’t think they’d have wanted to get a player sent off.

“Surrounding him [Manning] or surrounding the referee it’s not going to make a difference.

“I saw him coming, but I thought he was going to back out. My knee’s going to be sore.

“The referee’s got a decision to make and by the way my knee’s feeling I think he’s made the right decision.”

Mills took Adam Hammill’s long-standing status of being the squad’s elder statesman.

At 31, the experienced centre-back became the oldest player at Oakwell when he signed last week.

And the former Nottingham Forest man, who has over 300 Championship appearances under his belt, wants to help Barnsley stave off the drop.

The Reds are now precariously positioned just one point above the bottom three.

Mills added: “You think you’re a young lad and suddenly you’re the oldest in the squad. If I can offer any experience or advice then great, but I’ll try and bring the best I can to the table to help the team get results.”

He added: “I’ve only been in the door two minutes but this group is an absolutely unbelievable group of lads.

“I really hope we can stick those points on the board as quick as possible and get ourselves away from danger.”