Barnsley suffered their seventh successive League One defeat as they came out on the wrong side of a seven-goal thriller at high-flying Coventry City on Tuesday.
Coventry were 2-0 up after 18 minutes then there were four goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half with Alfie Mawson and Josh Scowen getting the Reds to 2-1 then 3-2 before the hosts made it 4-2.
Scowen got a second from the penalty spot deep into injury-time but the Reds could not find the equaliser and remain in the relegation zone with 14 points from 16 games.
Head coach Lee Johnson made just one change from the side that lost 2-0 at Scunthorpe United on Saturday as Adam Davies replaced Nick Townsend in goal.
The formation also changed to a 4-3-3 with centre-back Mawson partnering Scowen and Ben Pearson in midfield while Sam Winnall and Lloyd Isgrove were either side of Michael Smith in an attacking three.
Like at Scunthorpe, the Reds conceded an early goal as winger Ryan Kent cut in from the left and curled a shot from the edge of the box into the bottom right corner in the third minute.
Adam Davies made an excellent low save to keep out Adam Armstrong but was beaten by the same player soon after as he swept home a pull-back into the bottom right corner.
For Barnsley in the first half there were wide free-kicks from Mawson and Pearson, who also tackled the home goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook and was unlucky that the ball did not roll to him to tap into an empty net.
Barnsley pulled one back when Mawson headed in Scowen's corner two minutes into the second half. But Armstrong replied almost immediately as he went through on goal after some clever passing and beat Davies.
Scowen pulled another back with a good finish from the right side of the area while Coventry were appealing for a foul but former England star Joe Cole made it 4-2 on the hour with a superb free-kick which hit the underside of the bar before bouncing in.
Barnsley had chances to get back into it again but substitute Conor Wilkinson fired over the bar when clean through then Pearson had a penalty appeal turned down. Mawson then had a shot cleared off the line in the 89th minute.
Coventry's Aaron Phillips conceded a penalty for handball in the 94th minute and Scowen converted but Barnsley missed out.
