TIME TO KEEP YOUR HUDDS
Warnock warns rescue act is not complete yet
NEIL WARNOCK has warned that Huddersfield’s great escape is far from complete – despite climbing out of the drop zone for the first time since August.
The 3-2 win at Watford on Good Friday lifted Warnock to within sight of a miraculous rescue act at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Five points adrift of safety when he made his second coming at the club two months ago, the 74-year-old has won three games on the bounce – against promotion hopefuls Millwall, Middlesbrough and the Hornets – to catapult Huddersfield above the dotted line.
But he will demand there is no taking their foot off the pedal because two of their last three games are potential relegation shoot-outs with Cardiff and Reading. And today’s home game with top-six Blackburn will be another big test of Warnock’s enduring magic.
He said: “It’s still a hard job. We’ve got three out of four away and it’s probably the worst run-in I’ve ever seen.
“You’ve got to try and bring the other teams in to the battle. When we came in, if we hadn’t got one or two results we’d have already been relegated.
“But it’s nice to be back amongst the group, and it’s no mean feat to come to places like Watford and Millwall and get points. All credit to the lads.
“As a manager you can tell, when you’re talking to a group, that they’re all listening, nobody is looking away.
“Every eye is on me and they’re taking it all in. I think they trust me and that’s all I wanted them to do.
“I just can’t fault them, they’re a really good group and they’ve given me everything. To take nine points off Millwall, Middlesbrough and Watford is some going. And it’s a nice response to some people on fans’ forums who said that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.”
Rovers, beaten 1-0 by Norwich on Friday, are in the final play-off position but are in a run of four defeats in five matches which has put a dent in their promotion hopes.
Blackburn won the reverse fixture at Ewood 1-0.