Simon Davey admitted he was "wrong to get involved" in a touchline melee after his Barnsley side eased the pressure on his shoulders with a 2-1 win over rivals Sheffield Wednesday in another rip-roaring South Yorkshire derby.
Davey was involved in a furious exchange with Tony McMahon after the on-loan Owls defender had been shown a straight red card in the first half for his studs-high challenge on Rob Kozluk.
Davey said: "I got a bit heated because I felt it was a bad tackle. He caught Kozzie and he could have done some damage. I didn't think it was right, but perhaps I shouldn't have got involved in that, although it was a bad tackle. It was a sending-off offence."
Iain Hume had set Barnsley on their way to only their third Coca-Cola Championship win of the season with an emphatic fourth-minute finish, when Wednesday, fresh from their Steel City derby win on Sunday, were dealt another blow with McMahon's dismissal.
Davey vented his fury on the Middlesbrough right-back, but his mood lifted in the second half when Jamal Campbell-Ryce converted a penalty after Mark Beevers' foul on Stephen Foster.
Leon Clarke pulled a goal back from the penalty spot after he was tripped in the box by Dennis Souza, but the Tykes held on for a deserved win.
Davey added: "We thoroughly deserved it. From the off we were the better side.
"They had a 10-minute spell in the second half when they got the penalty, but we could have been three or four up at half-time."
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