John Eustace was full of praise for his captain and goalkeeper after they played starring roles for Blackburn Rovers in their win at Cardiff City.

Rovers secured their first away win of the season in impressive style, scoring two great goals and Lewis Travis had a hand in both.

The first was a team move that results in a one-two between Travis and Todd Cantwell, with the former then putting it on a plate for Andi Weimann.

The second goal was even better from Travis. He played a defence-splitting pass to Harry Pickering, who then had the easy job of squaring for the Austrian.

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It was a Player-of-The-Match performance from the midfielder, who is arguably the leading contender for Player of the Season after 15 games.

Eustace has been massively impressed with his contributions and revealed the important role he’s played in the dressing room over the last week.

“He was magnificent and that pass was top, top draw,” Eustace explained.

“Trav is one of the top performers in the Championship. He’s our captain and our leader.

“It’s been a very tough week. Saturday’s game against Sheffield United, we were good first half but second half we let ourselves down. I thought on Wednesday we were exceptional against Stoke without getting rewards.

“Trav has just been driving the standards in training. He keeps everyone’s believing and today’s performance was a real captain’s performance.”

Aynsley Pears produced another important performance to help Rovers over the line. The goalkeeper pulled off two saves at 2-0 which kept their lead intact. It proved pivotal when Cardiff did pull one back, with the Rovers goalkeeper unlucky to save the penalty but the rebound landed back it David Turnbull’s feet.

Eustace feels the goalkeeper has reached another level this season and put that down to increased competition.

“I think Pearsy has been very good since he’s come back. There is good competition for places in that department now,” he said.

“His game has gone to another level, I feel. I am very pleased with the way he’s performing and I hope it continues.”

Lewis Baker also picked up some praise after his decisive goal scored the win. His game time has been limited in the last month but he stepped up to score his first for Rovers.

“He does that in training all the time, he has great quality,” Eustace said.

“Lewis hasn’t played as many minutes as he’d have liked. But the way he dedicates his life and trains every day, he has been a great addition to the squad. When you train and perform like that every day, you get your rewards when you come on.

“He does a lot of extra shooting with the staff. It was a fantastic strike to win the game.

“It’s a bit of a relief when that third one hits the net hits the net but that can still soon change. Teams can score two goals in six or seven minutes.

“It’s the Championship so teams can and have done that. When that final whistle goes, it’s a relief and when you can get the most satisfaction.”