Barnsley have endured a difficult start to the season, following their promotion from League One last term, with the Tykes winless in eight Championship matches since a promising 1-0 win against Fulham at Oakwell on the opening day of the campaign.

Daniel Stendel's men have lost their last three Championship games, conceding six goals and scoring just once in the process, and they are in desperate need of finding a better balance at both ends of the pitch, starting with Wednesday night's meeting with Derby County at Oakwell, if they are to address their alarming slide which has seen them drop into the bottom three.

The Tykes' 3-1 defeat at home to Brentford at the weekend was perhaps their most alarming display so far this campaign, with Stendel's side failing to build on a bright start to the game, which saw them take the lead through an excellent strike from Cauley Woodraw after just 59 seconds.

But they allowed the Bees way too much space behind their defence and got punished with some ruthless finishing from Ollie Watkins.

Barnsley need to start seeing improved performances from a number of their key players, with many of the side that performed excellently in League One last term struggling to adapt to the Championship in the opening nine matches of the campaign.

Here, we take a look at three of Barnsley's most important players who now need to step up to help Stendel's side address their alarming recent slump...

Conor Chaplin

Chaplin arrived at Oakwell this summer from Coventry City, having impressed for the Sky Blues in League One last term managing to score eight goals in 32 appearances and being a constant threat with his direct running at opposition defences. There was hope he could add an extra dimension to Barnsley's attacking options.

However, so far Chaplin has struggled for consistency this season, scoring just once in seven league appearances and being placed on the bench in a few games by Stendel, but the 22-year-old has shown glimpses of his ability managing to average 1.4 shots per game and a 69.6% passing accuracy so far, according to Whoscored.

Barnsley, though have managed just five league goals so far this term, which is the lowest tally in the division and that will simply have to change if the Tykes are to survive, and they need Chaplin as one of their main attacking options to step now and show that he has the ability to make a difference at Championship level.

Alex Mowatt

Mowatt is one of the few players in Barnsley's squad with genuine Championship experience, having made over 100 appearances for Leeds United most of which came in the English second tier, and the midfielder needs to stamp his authority on matches with his technical quality to help Stendel's side retain possession and build attacks.

The 24-year-old has somewhat struggled for consistency throughout his career so far, but he was a key performer in Barnsley's automatic promotion from League One last term, making 39 appearances alongside Cameron McGeehan in what proved to be one of the most effective midfield partnerships in the English third tier last term.

So far this season Mowatt has been one of Barnsley's most impressive performers, managing to average 1.1 shots, two tackles and a 79.4% passing accuracy per game, according to whoscored, and it will be vital that he continues to step up the plate and not drop his levels to help guide Barnsley to some positive results in the coming weeks.

Dimitri Cavare

Cavare was another player who was instrumental in Barnsley's promotion bid last season, making 43 appearances at right-back and helping provide both an attacking threat with his dangerous overlapping runs, and also managing to be solid in his one on one defending and forming a key part of a defence which conceded just 39 goals.

However, so far this season Barnsley have lost that defensive stability, conceding 15 goals already this term after just nine matches, which has at times been due to Stendel asking his defenders to play too high up the pitch and allowing space behind them, as was evident in their defeat against Brentford.

Whilst individually Cavare has a reasonable start to the season, averaging 2 tackles, 1.4 interceptions and 2.8 clearances per game, according to whoscored, he has not been able to help create the same sort of impressive defensive unit that Barnsley enjoyed last term, and Barnsley will need him to step up and help get the defence more organised in coming weeks.