Barnsley boss bemoans passive performance after taking the lead against a rampant Peterborough United side

Collins felt his side played a full part in an entertaining clash at Oakwell for almost an hour, but a Barnsley goal for Barry Cotter inspired Posh rather than his side.

And Darren Ferguson’s men scored three times in 12 minutes to seal a third straight League One success.

Collins, who used to play for Ferguson at Preston North End, told the Barnsley Chronicle: “That will take a little bit of digesting. For everything we did well for 55 minutes, we then did the opposite.

"Up until then the team were fantastic against a really good side and deservedly took the lead. I am not quite sure why we lost the cohesion we had, but we stopped doing the things we did so well and became sporadic and individualistic.

“We had warning signs. Our goalkeeper made fantastic save and the goals we conceded were cardinal sins. There were individual errors within the goals but it was the whole collective. We need to look at why that was, but, when you play well so well for 60 minutes, you have to focus and try to do the same things.”

Collins admitted his team sat back too much after scoring. Barnsley have now picked up just one point in two games since smashing Port Vale 7-0 on the opening day of the season.

Collins added: “When the game is 0-0 it’s easier to feel the momentum to push on. Psychologically when you’re winning you maybe become less brave. It shouldn’t be the case, but I felt it was. We went deeper and more passive. It was quite similar to Saturday (1-1 draw at Bristol Rovers) in some ways.

“I am a realist. I have been in the game long enough to know that 7-0 was a great experience, but we certainly didn’t think that we were going to be running away with things.

!We have shown we can do it but we need to do it for longer.

“We have been ahead twice now, but how do we make sure we try to do the same things with the same intensity? You have to go through these moments to learn. Very few teams go through a season winning every game and never learning any lessons.”