JAAP Stam has told Garath McCleary to keep his emotions in check after his red card at Barnsley.

McCleary went from hero to zero after firing Royals ahead from a penalty rebound before receiving his marching order for violent conduct.

The Jamaica winger lost his cool and shoved Conor Hourihane to the ground after the Barnsley skipper had clashed with Danny Williams in the 34th minute.

Referee David Coote brandished a straight red meaning McCleary will be suspended for the next three matches – an EFL Cup clash at Brighton tomorrow (7.45pm ko) followed by Championship fixtures against leaders Huddersfield Town and Brentford.

Despite playing for almost an hour with 10-men, Reading went on to win 2-1 to end Barnsley's 100% record at Oakwell this season.

Royals, meanwhile, are unbeaten in six in all competitions, though Stam revealed he will be having words with McCleary about his behaviour.

"It was a reaction to the tackle," said Stam. "He needs to be more clever in situations like that.

“He knows what he's done, he's feeling guilty for the team. He was playing a fantastic game until then.

“But the red card made it more difficult for the team. We'll talk about that a little bit more of course.”

He added: "We played in a different style with ten men. we needed to defend instead of having the ball like we're used to. And in a way it's good for them in this learning period.

"We're building a team and learning how we want to play. Defending is part of that. And they've shown they can do that.”

McCleary was quick to apologise for his sending off on social medial.

The 29-year-old tweeted: “I apologise profusely. I was defending DW & had head loss which played into their hands. The boys done excellent for the remaining 60mins.”

Reading took the lead at Barnsley with just nine minutes gone when the recalled John Swift was tripped by Barnsley keeper Adam Davies.

Davies saved McCleary's penalty, but the Reading winger tucked home the rebound for his third goal of the season.

Stam's men doubled their lead in the 27th minute thanks to Swift's sensational 25-yard strike, only for McCleary to receive a red card seven minutes later.

However, 10-man Royals showed tremendous spirit to keep high-flying Barnsley at bay, and even though Newcastle loanee Adam Armstrong pulled one back in the 82nd minute, the visitors held on to claim a memorable victory.

Stam added: “We started very well and looked threatening up front. We kept good possession, created very good chances, scored two goals - we were dominating the game.

"At that time we still had 11 players on the pitch, but when Garath got sent off it became a totally different game.

“You cannot play the possession game you want to, so we chose to play with a 4-4-1 system.

"Barnsley are in form and are a very good side with quality especially on the wings. We had to be very sharp to defend crosses and win every header - and that's what we did.

"I think overall we worked very hard - we didn't give a lot of clear cut chances away. And in the end, we won, which is very important."

The win moved Reading up to seventh in the Championship table, and Stam continued: "It's never easy playing for 55 minutes with 10. There were some stressful moments and they gave us a hard time in the second half, but I think we coped with it it well.

“I'm very pleased with the three points."