Birmingham City continued their ascent towards the top of League One with another comeback victory over Barnsley.

Jay Stansfield inspired Blues to three points with a brace after Stephen Humphrys had given Barnsley the lead. Blues hit back immediately after Humphrys’ opener with Stansfield belting home from 25 yards.

Adam Phillips was sent off for Barnsley with 20 minutes to play and Blues punished the 10-man Tykes. Stansfield headed home Paik Seung-ho’s corner to net his 11th goal of the season in the 79th minute.

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Here are our talking points from Blues’ win at Oakwell…

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Another way of winning

Blues have recorded three straight wins in League One and each of them has required a different skillset. Exeter was free-flowing, Stockport was a game of two halves where Blues imposed themselves before shutting up shop, and Barnsley was a gritty, gutsy victory.

Barnsley sucked Blues into a direct, aggressive game of football with lots of aerial challenges and fouls. The introduction of Lukas Jutkiewicz at half-time gave Blues the physical presence to progress up the field.

“You’ve got to play the game in front of you,” said Chris Davies. “The ball is bouncing and you can’t get hold of the ball sometimes and you have to do that part well. There’s no right or wrong way to play football, so if the opposition is doing that then we need to do it and do it well.

“If you came to the game in the first half you wouldn’t have seen a lot of football but that’s OK, that’s part of it, they will open up eventually because the opposition open up eventually and we can play more football. The team looks like a solid team now, able to grind out away wins on a day like this.”

Another rival beaten

Blues have now played every team inside the top 10 in League One and they have taken 23 points from a possible 27. Reading and Mansfield are the only teams to take points from Blues.

Taking points off those around you is half the battle, and Blues can now look forward to games against four teams inside the bottom half before they meet Stockport again on January 1.

The importance of Ben Davies

Ben Davies might have been undone by Humphrys for Barnsley’s goal, but his importance to Blues can’t be understated. Blues have only conceded five goals when Davies has been on the field. They haven’t lost in the nine games Davies has started and have kept six clean sheets in the process.

Nobody expected Davies to be anything other than a back-up when he joined Blues at the tail-end of the summer transfer window, instead he is verging on undroppable after a series of solid defensive displays.

A route back for Buchanan?

Blues will hope that Alex Cochrane’s injury isn’t as serious as first feared. The left-back had been ever-present in League One before being stretchered off at Barnsley.

Davies hasn’t had the luxury of rotating Cochrane due to Lee Buchanan’s fitness woes. Buchanan hasn’t played a game in over four months due to calf problems.

But Buchanan, a Championship-standard left-back in his own right, is now injury-free and (hopefully) ready to slot in if Cochrane is out for any length of time. Buchanan might be worth a run-out against Exeter City in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.