Cardiff City have moved up to within two points of the Championship play-off spots following an important 2-0 victory over Barnsley at Oakwell on Saturday afternoon.

Neil Harris' side entered the match in search of their first win in five matches to get their top-six bid back on track, and they managed to achieve just this courtesy of two second-half goals in quick succession from Will Vaulks and Callum Paterson.

The result means Cardiff are now firmly in the mix for the play-offs ahead of the final nine matches this campaign, with the Bluebirds next facing a clash with league leaders Leeds United who have won their last five Championship matches.

Here, we take a look at ONE good aspect and ONE bad aspect of Cardiff's latest showing against the Tykes...

Paterson continues to shine in Cardiff's attack

Paterson has established himself ahead of Robert Glatzel and Danny Ward in Cardiff's attack since the start of the year, with the Bluebirds' frontman having now netted four goals in his last nine league appearances for the south Wales outfit.

The 25-year-old delivered a real stand-out performance against Barnsley over the weekend as he utilised his physicality to pose a serious threat for the Tykes' defence, while his relentless attacking endeavours eventually led to him getting on the score sheet.

There can be little doubt surrounding the fact that Paterson should now be the first-choice striker in this Cardiff side given the physical way they like to play, and Paterson could be vital to the Bluebirds' play-off push if he maintains this performance level.

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The Bluebirds' slow starts need addressing

There can't be too many negatives for Harris to take from the match given his side battled hard to seal the three points and a clean sheet, but there will remain some concern over Cardiff's slow start to matches which has hampered them in recent weeks.

Cardiff found themselves two goals down inside 20 minutes against Brentford before their first-half comeback last week, while Harris' men were once again lacklustre in the opening stages at Oakwell even though Barnsley were not able to punish the visitors.

The Bluebirds were then much more effective in the second period as they netted two goals before comfortably seeing out the remainder of the match, and this is the kind of display Cardiff need to replicate across the full match during the rest of the term.