Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock challenges Aron Gunnarsson to score more

Aron Gunnarsson of Cardiff City shoots to score his third goal of the season

Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock has challenged midfielder Aron Gunnarsson to score more regularly after his winner against Nottingham Forest.

Gunnarsson's stunning, swerving, first-time 25-yard shot gave the Bluebirds a 1-0 victory on Easter Monday.

It was the Iceland captain's third goal of the season, and his second of the campaign against Forest.

"He usually whacks the pigeon off the top of the stand when he shoots like that," said Warnock.

"But fortunately it was one of those when the goalie had no chance. As soon as you saw it from the dugout, it looked just like a missile, the way it went in.

"He's a great lad and a very important part of the squad. I think he can do better [going forward]. He knows what I think.

"He should be pushing on 10 goals I think, so we are working on that and we're trying to get more from the wide players.

"We also need more competition for places to improve the squad and have more choices to change the game."

It has been a long campaign for Gunnarsson, who joined Cardiff's pre-season preparations later than most of his team-mates after leading Iceland to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.

The 27-year-old has since made 38 appearances for Cardiff in all competitions, and a further five for his country.

His goal against Forest secured a third successive home win for the Bluebirds, who climbed up to 13th place in the Championship table and mathematically secured their status for another season.

The Forest bench react to a missed chance

Monday's match was initially short of action and, at one point in the first half, the most entertainment came from the dugout as Cardiff assistant manager Kevin Blackwell and his opposite number David Weir had to be separated after a heated disagreement.

"I told him [Blackwell] to get him sent to stand, to get him away from me," Warnock joked.

"He took his glasses off as well - he meant business! It wasn't that bad - even the ref laughed when he came over.

"It just shows you - you say there's nothing at stake but there is for us. We want to get as many points as we can. To say with three games left, we're mid-table, I'm happy."