86% defensive duels won, 13 recoveries: The Cardiff City man who played an instrumental part in Barnsley victory

Cardiff City claimed another crucial three points yesterday evening as they were victorious over fellow relegation battlers Barnsley at Oakwell, putting further daylight between themselves and the drop zone.

It was Uche Ikpeazu who proved to be the decisive figure in South Yorkshire, coming on for fellow January arrival Alfie Doughty in the 63rd minute and grabbing the winner eight minutes later, as he managed to hold off both Mads Anderson and Michal Helik to slot the ball past Brad Collins.

The Bluebirds also managed to keep it tight at the back in the latter stages of the game as they held on to the lead, with this victory extending their lead over 22nd-placed Peterborough United to nine points.

With this victory at Oakwell and win against Nottingham Forest at the weekend, they look reasonably comfortable all of a sudden, and they have their new signings to thank for that with winter additions Ikpeazu and Jordan Hugill scoring crucial goals.

But they must also express their gratitude to a defender who has played just as much of an integral role in picking up points – and that’s Perry Ng.

Ng was the man to grab the assist for Hugill’s goal against Steve Cooper’s men on Sunday, proving to be an outstanding figure in a more central role in defence and arguably coming out of that clash as man of the match.

Yet again last night, he produced a performance worthy of that gong. He may not have been very influential going forward because of this new position he’s adopted to make space for Leeds United’s Cody Drameh, perhaps reinforced most by the fact he only made one progressive run yesterday.

But he did contribute a huge amount defensively alongside Aden Flint and Mark McGuinness with 13 recoveries in total, helping to turn