Blame me for defeat, says Warnock
NEIL WARNOCK admitted he had only himself to blame after Cardiff’s unbeaten start crumbled against a determined Preston side. Warnock’s team were well below par as they succumbed to their first defeat of the season after seven games and surrendered top spot to Leeds. Josh Harrop’s 25-yard free-kick gave the hosts the lead seven minutes before the break and Sean Maguire’s strike on 70 minutes, then Alan Browne’s speculative shot from 40 yards, sealed it for Alex Neil’s side. Cardiff boss Warnock admitted he should have made changes. Warnock said: ‘I take a bit of the blame because I did think I should make three or four changes. ‘They looked a little bit jaded, but you’re a brave man to change a side that hasn’t lost a game. The goals were
terrible but we had eight or nine lads not at the races. If we hadn’t been undefeated I would have made three or four changes but when you’re undefeated and make changes and lose you get battered for it. ‘Preston were bright and we couldn’t get at them because we had no energy. ‘We were second best but there was a reason why we were second best.’ It was Cardiff’s heaviest defeat since they were beaten by the same scoreline and the same opponents 364 days ago and Preston’s biggest win since hammering Bristol City 3-0 on April 4.
Preston boss Neil believes his side can take on all-comers after beating the early leaders. ‘We have absolutely no one to fear,’ he said. ‘We have beaten the leaders and we really took the game to Middlesbrough up there. ‘I was asked beforehand how we were going to cope with Cardiff but I said, “We’re playing Cardiff, we’re not playing Real Madrid”. ‘It’s all about consistency. We’ve played seven games and we’ve been excellent in all of them apart from against Derby, when we were poor.’ Neil revealed that he was planning to substitute Harrop if the midfielder had missed from the free-kick that gave Preston the lead. ‘Josh had been on set-plays up to that point but if that had not gone in, I was taking him off,’ he said.