3 things we clearly learnt about Barnsley after their 3-2 win v Middlesbrough

Many Championship fans thought it may be Derby County who perform a miraculous great escape from the relegation battle – but it may be Barnsley who have all the momentum now.

The Tykes looked dead and buried at the start of 2022, having won just two of their 25 Championship matches and star striker Cauley Woodrow was ruled out for a considerable period with a knee injury.

Things still didn’t look to be changing with the Yorkshire side losing six matches in a row right up until they broke their long winless run with a surprise 1-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers on February 12.

And if it wasn’t for a sucker punch of a goal from Coventry City last week then Poya Asbaghi’s outfit could be four games unbeaten, as it is now back-to-back wins following a 2-0 midweek success over Hull City and now a 3-2 triumph over play-off chasing Middlesbrough.

A brace from Amine Bassi and an opener from Mads Andersen sealed a priceless three points for Barnsley – let’s see what we learned about them following the Oakwell success.

Soaking up pressure works for them

With just 32 per cent of the possession in the match, it’s clear what Barnsley were trying to do against Chris Wilder’s side.

Wilder has Boro attacking relentlessly and Asbaghi could have easily gone with a back five to try and park the bus, but the Swede played a 4-2-3-1 but was still able to restrict the visitors to half-chances for the most part.

If they can play like that against the rest of their opposition this season then they may just survive the drop.

Amine Bassi could be a game-changer

A player who will not be very known to EFL fans, Amine Bassi arrived at Oakwell on loan from French side Metz last month on transfer deadline day – and he’s quickly proving to be a hit.

A