Liam Lindsay has been a key presence in Barnsley's defence this season.

Barnsley are currently clear of the relegation places on goal difference, so it's a tight situation and ideally they need to beat Derby to make sure they stay in the division.

The recent victory against Brentford came at a crucial time because they had failed to pick up a result in their game in hand against Nottingham Forest. Beating the Bees ensured they stayed above Burton Albion who are on a three-game winning run which has sparked hopes of a miraculous survival for the Brewers.

Lindsay has only missed four league games this season with the Tykes winning one of those and losing the rest. They were at the beginning of the season, and he has held on to a starting place since he was given his first opportunity against Sunderland.

The sheer consistency is what is most impressive because he is only 22-years-old. Barnsley's limited resources mean that most teams have better quality players so they usually have a lot of opposition pressure to deal with, so being a centre-back for them is tough especially for a youngster.

He has even managed to score and grab an assist for his side, but the goal came in a 3-1 loss to Fulham and his assist came in a 2-1 loss to Wolves. However, it's defensively where he will be judged and he is certainly able to deal with danger with an average of 6.1 clearances and 1.5 tackles per game.

His pass success percentage of 64.3 needs to be improved on if he wants to keep progressing even though he is a defender because the modern development of the game means that defenders have to be capable on the ball. Although Barnsley's style will have no doubt contributed to this.

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