Kieffer Moore scored 19 goals for Barnsley last season - but has yet to find the net for Wigan
Wigan Athletic ended a five-game losing run but had to settle for a point as they were held to a goalless draw by fellow strugglers Barnsley at the DW Stadium.
Nathan Byrne almost gave the Latics an early lead when he hit the bar with a cross which eluded goalkeeper Brad Collins.
Mamadou Thiam came closest for Barnsley before the break with a fiercely struck free-kick, which David Marshall pushed round the post, while Charlie Mulgrew tested Collins with a dead-ball effort of his own.
The visitors twice went close in the space of a minute after the break as Marshall made fine saves to deny Mike Bahre and Luke Thomas, but they had to hang on at the end as full-back Ben Williams was shown an injury-time red card for a foul on Lee Evans.
Already without first-choice goalkeeper Sami Radlinger, centre-back Bambo Diaby and striker Cauley Woodrow, Barnsley boss Daniel Stendel sprang a surprise by naming a side without his main central midfielder pairing of Alex Mowatt and Cameron McGeehan.
With Dimitri Cavare their oldest player at 24, the visitors were under pressure in the early stages as Wigan striker Kieffer Moore offered a serious physical presence against his former club.
But Moore only lasted just over an hour after returning from a calf injury as experienced marksman Joe Garner was sent on to try to find a way through the Tykes defence.
Gavin Massey hit the side-netting for Wigan with a deflected shot and Collins made a good save to keep out Joe Williams' header, but that was as close as they came and they remain third bottom of the table, one place and one point below Barnsley, whose own winless run stretched to six matches in all competitions.
Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"We can be satisfied with our performance today, especially after a lot of injuries.
"We got a clean sheet with a new back four and a new goalkeeper, and we had three or four big chances to win the game.
"In recent games, we have conceded easy goals. We defended so much better."
Wigan boss Paul Cook:
"You can see what happens when the lads raise the level, the support comes instantly from the fans and we need to do that more often for them.
"Defensively we were very good. If you watched us last week at QPR, you wouldn't have said that, so you can see there's been some improvement from the training ground this week.
"We know we've got to be better going forward, we accept that. At times Barnsley played really well, they've got pace and energy in good areas and that's credit to them."
