Barnsley boosted their Championship survival hopes by beating play-off-chasing Blackburn Rovers at Oakwell.

A goal in each half moved Barnsley to within one point of safety, having played a game more than 21st-placed Hull, who take on Middlesbrough on Thursday.

Conor Chaplin opened the scoring for the hosts, rising highest to head home Kilian Ludewig's cross in the 57th minute.

Tony Mowbray's Blackburn were reduced to 10 men when striker Ben Brereton was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Ludewig after 74 minutes.

And Barnsley doubled their lead two minutes later when Jacob Brown calmly slotted the ball beyond Blackburn goalkeeper Christian Walton to secure all three points.

Barnsley a team on the up?

Despite their position near the foot of the Championship, Gerhard Struber's Barnsley have been in good form since the league's resumption and have now taken seven points from three matches.

The Tykes dominated the opening exchanges, with forward Cauley Woodrow twice stinging the palms of Walton.

But Rovers, coming into the fixture four points off a play-off spot, were dangerous after the first-half drinks break, with Adam Armstrong forcing a good save from Barnsley's Jack Walton, who then did exceptionally well to keep out Bradley Johnson's volley from the resulting corner.

Barnsley - who had won a division-low five home games before this match - were again fortunate not to fall behind in the 32nd minute when Dominic Samuel's cross-shot just evaded Joe Rothwell as the visitors continued to carve open the home defence.

Blackburn continued creating opportunities after the restart, with Samuels side-footing a Stewart Downing free-kick off target in the 47th minute.

But Barnsley soon went ahead as second-half substitutes Ludewig and Chaplin combined within three minutes of coming onto the field.

Blackburn created few opportunities in response and their task was soon made more difficult when referee Tony Harrington dismissed Rovers substitute Brereton.

Barnsley then doubled their advantage as skipper Alex Mowatt created the match-clinching second goal for Brown.
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Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber: "We changed the formation at the break and that was the big key in the second half. The players at the moment have the right mindset.

"I think it's a very good situation - three games, three clean sheets and also points. This has a massive impact for our boys and our belief.

"The winning mentality at the moment is very good. But we are still in the relegation zone. We have to reproduce these performances.

"I think Stoke (who Barnsley face on Saturday) are a massive opponent and we have to bring in a similar performance."

Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray on Ben Brereton's red card: "He's kicked him. It's really disappointing for the team. It's just unacceptable really for an individual to do that to the team.

"We lost the game because we didn't take our chances in the first half. Goals change games, as we've found out in the last two games.

"We were one point off the play-offs and now we've lost to two teams we should have been beating. Life looks pretty tough from this point onwards.

"We have to stick together, we have to take the positives. We win and lose together."