Bluebirds on song for buoyant Bulut

CARDIFF CITY soared into the Championship play-off zone with manager Erol Bulut labelling their form as “perfect”.

A fourth successive win against abject Rotherham never looked in doubt after striker Kio Etete’s 56th-minute header put the hosts in front.

Full-back Perry Ng made the three points safe when he rifled home late on.

Bulut said: “Nothing is easy, but it is perfect to have four wins. We have our fighting spirit back.

“It wasn’t easy to open their defence and there’s always the danger of getting caught on the counter-attack.”

For Rotherham it was an afternoon to forget as they barely laid a glove on their opponents in the Welsh capital.

The Millers have just one win from their opening nine games and already look relegation candidates.

A Rotherham equaliser never looked likely, with the Bluebirds’ defence rock-solid.

Manager Matt Taylor admitted his side had offered little threat but stressed Championship life will “always be a struggle” for the club.

Taylor said: “We have to make games ugly and scruffy away from home, and we tried to chase the game.

“But we needed a bit of luck to go our way around the opposition goal.

“We know we are short of certain types of players, but we have to say that’s the best we have been for an hour.

“We just have to convert that to 90 minutes.

“In terms of where we have been for our first four away games, that was an improvement.”

CARDIFF: Alnwick 8; Goutas 8, Mcguinness 9, Ng 8, Collins 7; Wintle 8, Ralls 7 (Robinson (79) 6), Siopis 6 (Adams (87) 5); Etete 8, Grant 8 (Ugbo (87) 5), Meite 5 (Tanner (18) 7) ROTHERHAM: Johansson 7; Lembikisa 6, Bramall 4, Blackett 6, Revan 6 (Appiah (72) 7), Onyedinma 6; Clucas 5 (Peltier (72) 5), Tiehi 6, Rathbone 6; Hugill 5 (Nombe (67) 5), Green 6 (Kelly (87) 5) STAR MAN: Mark Mcguinness – A true rock at the heart of Cardiff City’s defence.

Leigh Doughty 7