Cardiff City 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Matthew Connolly of Cardiff City is congratulated by Anthony Pilkington after levelling

Cardiff City are out of the Championship's bottom three after fighting back to earn a late win over relegation rivals Wolves.

The visitors led after two minutes as Cardiff goalkeeper Ben Amos failed to stop Matt Doherty's long-range shot.

Matt Connolly headed the hosts level before Anthony Pilkington struck with an assured low finish after 86 minutes.

Cardiff climb up to 19th place, three points above the relegation zone, while Wolves drop to 20th.

Starting the game in 22nd place and two points behind Wolves, Cardiff knew a win would take them out of the relegation zone and possibly consign their opponents to the bottom three.

However, it was Paul Lambert's side who seized the initiative, taking an early lead thanks to a helping hand from their opponents.

Wolves left-back Doherty cut inside on to his right foot and tried his luck with a firm shot from 20 yards and, although it hurtled straight towards Amos, the Cardiff goalkeeper could only palm the ball into his own net.

The visitors were barely troubled in a slumberous first half, but Cardiff were much improved in the second and forced Wolves' 19-year-old goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne - making only his second league start - into several saves.

He eventually buckled under the pressure, failing to catch or clear a Peter Whittingham corner and allowing Connolly to nod in from close range.

Cardiff continued to pepper Burgoyne's goal with shots and crosses.

The home side's endeavours were rewarded when Pilkington carried the ball into the Wolves penalty area and drilled a powerful effort into the bottom corner.

Cardiff manager Neil Warnock:

"We felt a bit sorry for ourselves with the goal. We were behind because of a goalkeeping error.

"It took us 10, 15 minutes after that where we could've lost the game. I just said to them 'stop feeling sorry for yourselves, they are there to be beaten and if we play in the second half, we can win the game'. That was the message."

Wolves head coach Paul Lambert:

"I don't think we did enough in the second half, whether or not we deserved to lose it, I'm not so sure.

"I've looked at the tape and it wasn't a corner. We had been coping really well with the corners and long throw-ins.

"It's been an occurrence since August, being near the bottom. We've absolutely got enough to stay up. We're a really good attacking side that needs a bit of experience.

"We're a young team who will make mistakes, but we've certainly got a threat."