Poya Asbaghi on the secret behind Amine Bassi's success at Barnsley FC

The Metz midfielder has impressed since arriving on loan for the rest of the season and is providing a catalyst in the club's third 'Great Escape' mission to avoid Championship relegation from a pretty dire situation in the space of nine years

Bassi excelled in last weekend's victory over Middlesbrough, which saw the Reds secure back-to-back wins for the first time since last April.

It helped Poya Asbaghi's side record their third league victory in four matches to move off the bottom of the table and provide them with hope and optimism ahead of a key run-in, which starts with a huge fixture at relegation rivals Derby County on Saturday.

After setting up Mads Andersen's opener against Boro with a fine cross, Bassi, a former Morocco youth international, helped himself to two goals in the hosts' impressive 3-2 success at Oakwell.

On his the impact of Bassi, who joined Metz from Ligue 1 side from Nancy last summer for a £1.8m fee, head coach Asbaghi said: "He is a smart player who has settled in quickly. One of the attributes we knows he possesses is smartness and he can read a game and adapt really well.

"If you talk to him, you will not get so many English words, but he understands the game of football. When you do that, you can talk the language of football.

"It does not matter if you are from France, Brazil or England, you are easy to play with.

"He has shown just that, a player who is easy to play with who can adapt as well and really fast to the next game and more importantly, during the game. I am not surprised that a player like him can adapt that fast to the Championship."

Alongside Bassi, the Reds other winter window signing in Watford loanee Domingos Quina is also catching the eye and proved the matchwinner in Barnsley's victory over QPR in their previous home game ahead of the Boro test.

For Ashaghi, the work-rate of the duo has been just as striking as their offensive qualities in his view, with the pair doing their bit for a Barnsley side who are starting to look like a competent team unit for the first time this season.

Asbaghi added: "These are two players who definitely have offensive qualities and both of them are showing it week after week, but they are also contributing with their hard work in defence.

"It is a collective and as a team and I am seeing a lot of improvement with other players.

"Players are playing a lot better football than they did a month or two months ago. That is the biggest reason why we started winning have football games."