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Barnsley hero, Kayode Odejayi, is another Nigerian revelation in England. At the weekend, he proved himself once again, when his goal sent out Premiership giants, Chelsea FC from the FA Cup.

While Nigeria finished a disappointing position at the last MTN African Cup of Nations in Ghana due to strikers inability to score goals, Odejayi seems to have solution to the Super Eagles problems.

His goal against Chelsea may have also silenced his critics, who made his life a misery at the start of the season.
Odejayi emerged as the toast of the Tykes after scoring the winner to send holders Chelsea crashing out of the FA Cup and Barnsley into the semi-finals for the first time in 96 years.

"The fans did get on my back, which was disappointing to hear," reflected the 26-year-old. "Hopefully, this performance will have gone a long way to turning them around."
He added: "I tried to block it out, but sometimes I did hear stuff. I guess the fans are entitled to their opinion.

"But I knew I was big enough and professional enough to deal with it, and I did, and now I'm starting to come out on the other side."
As Odejayi struggled for goals and form, Davey was forced to drop him from the starting line-up, but he never lost faith.

"He did take some stick at the start of the season, but he managed to come through it. He never moaned once," said Davey.
"When I signed him in the summer, I believed in him from the word go. We've always known he is a good player and that he would come good.

"He is raw and he is still improving, but he is an intelligent lad and he wants to learn. I did have to pull him out of the side at one stage, though, but he then proceeded to work extra hard in training.
"I then put him back in, and he's tortured defences at times. From his heart and his head, he's worked his socks off. He took on world-class players in this game, and he has got his reward by scoring the winner to take us to Wembley."

Olukayode Odejayi was born February 21, 1982 in Ibadan. He is a Nigerian professional footballer currently playing for Coca-Cola Championship club Barnsley. Odejayi is a striker, as well as his cousin Ade Akinbiyi.

Odejayi, a forward, was at Bristol City as a trainee, before moving on to Conference side Forest Green Rovers in 2002. 2002-03 turned out to be Rovers' best ever season since their foundation in 1890, and Odejayi was a key figure, scoring 13 goals as the club finished ninth.

This brought him to the attention of Cheltenham Town, and then-manager Bobby Gould signed him that summer. His first two seasons were a struggle but in his third season (2005-06) he played almost every game as Cheltenham stormed to the play-off final, winning 1–0 against fancied Grimsby Town.

He came to national attention in January 2006 when Cheltenham faced Newcastle United in the FA Cup 3rd round. Odejayi was outstanding, giving French international defender Jean-Alain Boumsong no end of problems during the game. Following the game he was linked with a move to Championship team Plymouth Argyle however the move never materialised.

On May 31, 2007, Odejayi moved to Barnsley for £200,000, a Cheltenham record for a sale of a player. Forest Green Rovers will receive a windfall from the transfer as part of the terms of Odejayi's Cheltenham deal. He scored in the Reds' first friendly against Morecambe in a 2–1 defeat.

He then bagged a brace against Portuguese side, Louletano DC in a 3–2 win. In a 3–1 victory against Buxton, he bagged his fourth goal in three games.
Kayode netted his first competitive goal for Barnsley against Scunthorpe, who effectively sealed a 2-0 victory for the Reds.

Nevertheless, Odejayi struggled during the 2007-08 season, going 28 games without a goal. His own fans during a game against Southampton booed him off the pitch on March 3, 2008, after he missed a string of chances at goal. Barnsley teammate, Bobby Hassell and manager Simon Davey both publicly backed the striker. Their faith was rewarded on March 8, 2008 as Odejayi netted the only goal in a sixth round FA Cup match against Chelsea, sending the team to the competition's semi-final for the first time since 1912.