Cardiff City resilience could 'define season' - Neil Warnock
- Published
Callum Paterson opened the scoring for Cardiff City against Barnsley
Manager Neil Warnock believes the resilience Cardiff City showed in the closing stages of their win over Barnsley could "define their season".
Tuesday's 2-1 victory moved second-placed Cardiff to within three points of Championship leaders Wolves.
The Bluebirds had led 2-0 before a goal by Barnsley's Swansea City loanee Oli McBurnie set up a tense finish.
"I can't fault them. It's a great three points in the circumstances," said Warnock.
"I said to Blackie [Kevin Blackwell, assistant manager] with 20 minutes left, these next 20 minutes could define our season.
"They [Barnsley] got their heads up, we'd got injuries left, right and centre and we were all at sea at times.
"But they got a grip of each other on the pitch. Big Sol [Bamba] started dictating who was who, where we were, [Greg] Halford did well when he came on in that respect and Loic [Damour]."
The win over Barnsley was Cardiff's fifth in succession, keeping them in the automatic promotion spots and four points clear of third-placed Aston Villa.
Victory over Barnsley was Warnock's 38th at Cardiff having won exactly half the games he's taken charge of
Warnock has consistently played down his side's hopes of securing automatic promotion to the Premier League, insisting that the play-offs remain their target.
However, with only 11 matches left in the Championship season, Cardiff seem to be gathering momentum at the ideal time.
Warnock has become a hugely popular figure among the club's fans, transforming the Bluebirds from relegation candidates upon his arrival in October 2016 to genuine promotion contenders in his first full campaign in charge.
The 69-year-old former Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers manager marks each home win with a raised fist to the Cardiff fans, and he hopes to repeat his victory salute as the season nears its climax.
"It's for the fans. I think they pay their money for that," Warnock joked.
"I hope I do it another 11 times. That'll do me and then I can have arthritis!"