Buendia opened the scoring from long range in the 27th minute and Cantwell followed suit midway through the second half to secure a win that took the in-form Canaries six points clear at the top of the table ahead of second placed Bournemouth's clash at Luton.

Both players were left out of the side at the beginning of the season after a summer of speculation over their future, with Farke criticising their focus in training. But Buendia was quickly back in the fold and Cantwell has recently returned to the squad after a spell out through injury.

"They are both young men who are still learning the game and it is my job to help them along the way," said the Norwich boss.

"They had a difficult time of it but they are now back to their best and doing a great job for the team.

"They showed their ability out there and they were two excellent goals and two excellent performances. It shows what both of them are capable of."

Asked whether he was worried about losing them in the January transfer window, he added: "That is not something I am thinking about. We are in a very good position approaching the halfway stage of the season and selling them is not a topic for us.

"They will be important players as we look to build on the good start we have made."

Farke felt his side were well worth the three points.

"We had a difficult away game and arrived more or less in the early hours at Colney on Thursday morning," he said.

"We still have key players injured but we delivered again. To show this performance and the maturity is pleasing.

"We played a team also on fire. Our game management was really good. If I want to criticise something we could have scored more goals from our chances.

"But our structure and possession were really good and we return to the dressing room with a clean sheet.

"I thought it was a deserved win for us. We scored two good goals and had the chances to score a lot more. It was also a clean sheet and that was very pleasing too.

"I can't hide the fact I am pretty pleased with our form.

"We are pleased with our points so far and our position in the league but there is a long way to go. This is the toughest league in the world and we just have to maintain the standards we have shown so far."

Cardiff manager Neil Harris had no complaints about the result, admitting that the leaders deserved to win.

"It looked like a game too far for us," he said. "We looked leggy and made errors that aren't normal for our level.

"When you play good teams you can't give them a leg up like we did. Even from 25 yards they find the bottom corner.

"As much as we weren't at our levels they showed their class as well. They have good players and are top of the league for a reason – they find ways to win games.

"We got beat in the derby last week but we have won five in the last seven now. The sooner we get players back fit for us the better. We have three games before the turn of the year where I expect us to pick up points.

"It might look like there is a gulf between the two; they have a more in-depth squad having been in the Premier League and that is where we aspire to get to. But we are capable of competing with the top sides."