Neil Warnock impressed with Cardiff resilience in Barnsley victory

Posted Wednesday, March 07, 2018 by PA

Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock was delighted with the resilience his side showed in their battling 2-1 Championship victory over Barnsley as they strengthened their hold on second.

Callum Paterson latched onto a loose ball in the box just after the half-hour mark to open the scoring with his second goal against the Tykes this season.

Marko Grujic doubled their tally with his first goal for the Bluebirds a minute after the break, while Swansea loanee Oli McBurnie pulled one back for the visitors on the hour.

But Warnock’s men held on to claim their fifth-successive victory to take them to within three points of Championship front-runners Wolves.

“I said the last 20 minutes would define our season because they had their tails up and we were all at sea,” said Warnock.

“If we can just keep ticking along, there are only 11 games left. If we get through to the international break and get players back then we will go from there.

“I think Wolves will still be quietly confident and Aston Villa and Fulham are favourites to go up. We will just tick along quietly.

“I have a great bunch of lads. I can’t fault the effort. But people can’t ever accuse our team of being physical after what we have seen.

“I was more disappointed at some of the things (that were) allowed to happen but it’s another three points and we move on.

“It’s a disgrace, how Kieffer Moore has not been sent off for two challenges I do not know. So, I’m extra pleased that we have stood up to that.

“We missed some easy chances that my wife could have put in.”

Barnsley are hovering two points above the relegation zone, but manager Jose Morais believes they were unlucky to miss out on a result.

“We were unlucky with the way things went,” said Morais. “We had a penalty which wasn’t given, we scored a goal and then had other opportunities but we couldn’t score again.

“The opponent is second in the league and are a candidate to be in the Premier League next season and if we had started better, I believe we could have got more than we did.

“I am positive and I can be proud of how the players played the game and the attitude they had, especially in the second-half. I have a very positive outlook for the future.

“I saw good things, the way we reacted was very positive. We were playing away at second in the league and I can only say we deserved more from what we did.

“I cannot say we were worse than the opposition. We were level in the game for most of it and they were worried in the final part of the game.”