Sheffield United: Slavisa Jokanovic labelled one aspect of his team's Jekyll and Hyde display at Barnsley as "unacceptable"

But what was said in the away dressing room, deep within the bowels of Oakwell’s North Stand, certainly had the desired effect. Well, at least until Markus Schopp’s side threatened to produce the mother of all comebacks before falling just short in this South Yorkshire grudge match.

“I must be satisfied with the victory and also with the points,” Jokanovic said, after watching Lys Mousset score twice and Ben Osborn once at the beginning of the second period. “We tried to play behind them at the start and we weren’t successful. We lacked pace and passing but then did better.”

Low on quality and even lower on incident, barring the off flash of invention from youngster Iliman Ndiaye, Jokanovic, an intelligent midfielder during his own playing days, will not have enjoyed watching United’s first-half display. In fact, no one inside the stadium did - other than Schopp, who faced a series of questions about his future following the final whistle.

Peppering a series of long crossfield passes aimlessly into touch, Barnsley were as competent and confident as you would expect of a team which has now lost six on the spin. But United were unable to take advantage, moving the ball too slowly and too predictably until they finally became more clinical.

After providing the assists for both of Mousset’s efforts, Osborn’s drilled strike should have laid the platform for a resounding victory. Instead, with nothing left to lose as the home fans howled in derision, Barnsley were able to expose the flaws which still exist in the visitors’ psychological armoury. Schopp labelled their response “superb” as substitutes Devante Cole and Aaron Leya Iseka both netted to set-up a nervous finale. Jokanovic saw it differently, admitting he was “hurt” by the sight of United struggling to haul themselves across the finishing line.

“We stopped playing and what happened in the last 15 (minutes) is unacceptable,” he said. “We stopped thinking we could win, that was my sensation. It must not go on.”