Huddersfield 2-1 Barnsley: David Wagner and Paul Heckingbottom reaction

Head coach David Wagner insisted only hard work would keep Huddersfield ahead of the pack after a 2-1 victory over Barnsley put them top of the Championship.

A stoppage-time winner from substitute Jonathan Hogg at the John Smith's Stadium lifted Town to the summit after an unbeaten start to the campaign.

Chris Lowe opened the scoring with a superb left-footed strike in the first half before Alfie Mawson equalised with a header just after the break.

Wagner admitted he never expected to be top and said: "What the table says at this stage doesn't matter.

"We have 10 points from four matches and every single point has been deserved because of the work ethic of the players.

"It's a good run and we have to keep it going. We can only influence results with our performance.

"We can't promise a result every game but what we can promise is we will keep fighting and working hard."

German left-back Lowe curled a brilliant effort into the top corner in the 26th minute after a neat one-two with Elias Kachunga.

Centre-back Mawson, 22, attracting interest from clubs in the Premier League and Championship, then headed home Marc Roberts' long throw in the 47th minute.

Nahki Wells was denied by an excellent stop from Adam Davies and Stefan Payne struck a post when one-on-one and could have won it for Barnsley.

But midfielder Hogg kept his composure to fire home in the second minute of stoppage time after Kachunga put him through.

Wagner added: "We are happy and you could say we were lucky to get the points but only the worker has the luck.

"We showed great character and kept going right to the end. We have come back against Brentford and Aston Villa and our subs are delivering the goals.

"We are building step by step and that's what we have to do to be more successful than in the past."

Barnsley head coach Paul Heckingbottom was left disappointed and said: "It is always about the result but we came up against a good side in Huddersfield.

"For us to be disappointed shows how far we have come.

"It was a game of two halves for us. We didn't play well in the first half and let them dictate and didn't pose much threat.

"We responded well in the second half but we couldn't dwell on it at half-time with the players. We just came up with a new game plan.

"The boys knew what they were going to do and we almost pulled it off. There are a lot of positives to take."

Sunderland and Newcastle are said to looking at Mawson and Heckingbottom added: "Speculation can be unsettling but he is a good player and people will always be looking at good players. He's not the only good player we have."