Cardiff City 2, Barnsley 0 (Story by  www.icwales.com) Whisper it, just whisper it, but Cardiff City are very much back in the Championship promotion shake-up. A third win on the bounce for Dave Jones and his men, which might not have been sparkling but was too much for a Barnsley side that kept the ball but rarely looked like shaking City's grip on the game. And it was Michael Chopra taking centre-stage again following his hat-trick against Leicester, the sizzling striker setting a goal up for Peter Whittingham and scoring the other for his side. It was a fine way to mark his 100th league appearance and sends him joint top of the Championship charts alongside Norwich's Robert Earnshaw and Southampton's Gregorz Rasiak. The evening was only marred by injuries to Joe Ledley, who came off just before half-time with a knee injury, and his replacement Kevin McNaughton, on the pitch for just three minutes when he was stretchered off. McNaughton's injury looked serious, banging his head as he fell. He was unconscious at one point and exited in a neck brace, but after a hospital visit was reportedly all right. Ledley also ended up in casualty, but reports said things were not as serious as first thought. Although he will not be joining up with John Toshack's Wales for the trip to Northern Ireland, while McNaughton will miss out on a trip to the Scottish training camp. The first-half goals both involved Chopra. The first on 11 minutes came when his shot looped off Adam Eckersley and Whittingham, fresh in from Aston Villa, was at the far post to nod home. The second was all the striker's work. Curling a free-kick over the Barnsley wall from 25 yards just before half-time. Jones' dabbling in the transfer window had brought him that rarest of dilemmas this season: selection decisions to make. Simon Walton, who has come in on loan for the rest of the season from Charlton, slotted straight into the heart of the Cardiff midfield. He replaced Riccy Scimeca, who limped off with a torn hamstring in Saturday's defeat of Leicester. Jones persisted with the rest of that victorious side. Gracing the City dugout was new signing Iwan Redan. The striker arrived at Ninian Park this week under a slight cloud after allegedly butting a team-mate at Willem II during a Dutch cup clash. Wolves goal hero Jason Byrne was also there, meaning veteran Kevin Campbell dropped out of the 16 for the first time since joining the club back in the summer. Midfielder Stephen McPhail took the Cardiff captaincy against his old club in the absence of the injured Darren Purse. Barnsley boss Simon Davey, who had added incentive at Ninian Park being Swansea-born and bred and a former Swans' player, included his new acquisitions, Hungarian strikers Peter Rajczi and Istvan Ferenczi, on the bench. Cardiff started the match brightly and kept it going in an impressive first period. Before Whittingham got the breakthrough they created chances on a number of occasions. With just five minutes on the clock, Paul Parry fired a stinging shot to test the resolve of Tykes' keeper Colgan. Four minutes later Steve Thompson really should have put his side ahead. Chopra skipped through the visitors' defence and slid a lovely ball through to the big Scot beating the offside trap. But Thompson fired straight at Colgan. But it was soon forgotten when Whittingham nodded home. On 26 minutes Welsh international Parry was at it again. Direct and strong he burst through on goal only to smash his shot against the stanchion of the goal. Barnsley, meanwhile, were struggling to get a foothold in the match, although they were enjoying a licence to roam down the right with Martin Devaney exploiting the situation and whipping in some dangerous balls. Just before the half hour they enjoyed their best chance of the half. Sam Togwell cutting inside and his cross-cum-shot taking a wicked deflection off Walton. Neil Alexander did very well to adjust himself and palm the ball away from danger. But the Bluebirds cemented their dominance a minute before the break when Chopra stepped up and stroked that beautiful free-kick home. The shine was taken off proceedings a shade by those injuries to Ledley and McNaughton. It meant a major rejig in defence for Cardiff at the start of the second half. Whittingham dropped back to that left-back berth, while Parry switched to the left flank to accommodate substitute Willo Flood on the right. Barnsley naturally came out of their shells in an attempt to get back into the game, with obvious instructions to hurt the Bluebirds down the right. On 55 minutes they almost did. A low ball was tipped away by a sprawling Alexander and it fell to Mark Richards. He had an empty net to fire at, but City right-back Kerrea Gilbert came in with a crucial block to deny him. Cardiff were giving their visitors a lot of space, but Barnsley, who have been flirting with relegation for much of the season, never really had the quality to exploit it. It was the home side, playing on the break, who really looked more like adding to the goals tally. On 65 minutes Flood went on a jinking run down the right, beating some bemused Tykes' defenders. But his left-foot shot was a whisker wide of the post. On 78 minutes Flood was at it again, finding space on the right and firing in a low cross that Colgan went down well to save. Four minutes from time, Parry's long-range effort was inches off target. With time running out for Barnsley they actually seemed to become less effective, even the introduction of those two unpronounceable Hungarians failing to lift them late on. Three wins on the bounce now for Cardiff, nearly a third of the season left to go. It may not be the dazzling form that marked the start of the season, but an effective end to the season might be enough to get Jones and his men up.