JOSH’S PLAN OF ATTACK IS BULUT-PROOF

JOSH BOWLER’S stunning winner at Watford came straight off the Cardiff training ground – inspired by boss Erol Bulut.

The Turkish coach had been banging on at the right winger for ages to cut inside more often and let fly with his peach of a left foot.

And Bowler (above) revealed he did exactly that at Vicarage Road, with by far the best moment of a vital away win that leaves Cardiff five points off the play-offs.

With his three-month drought over, the Bluebirds playmaker admitted the seemingly spontaneous effort was actually down to a mix of Bulut advice and extra shooting sessions.

Bowler said: “The manager tells me I should shoot more and I’ve been working in the last week on that bend to the far corner.

“A lot of the time I will go for the near post but the manager is encouraging me to do what I did here today.

“In the moment, I don’t think about that. It was in my subconscious. But it’s played a part. It was there to be hit and I hit it well.”

The fact the sizzling 43rd-minute finish stopped him being hooked by Bulut at half-time was not lost on Bowler as he added: “I think that was a bit harsh!

“But I know the manager. He demands high standards. I’m happy to pay him back with that.“

With five deadline-day signings at Cardiff, the battle to remain a regular is on.

Bowler is relishing it, saying: “It’s massive... it pushes players. You can get comfortable seeing the same players every day.”

How Watford boss Valerien Ismael would love such a situation to counter a fixture pile-up, compounded by tomorrow’s FA Cup fourth-round replay at Championship high-fliers Southampton.

After failing to cut the gap to the top six, Ismael said: “The schedule can give me a headache.

“After every game the first question to the physio is, ‘Do we have a problem?’. If they say, ‘All good’ then I can breathe... regardless of the result.”