WING-BACK TO THE FUTURE FOR JUNIOR
JUNIOR HOILETT hailed the tactical expertise of Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock after Cardiff handed their manager the perfect 70th birthday present by beating Wolves on Friday night.
The Canada striker, 28, netted a stunning winner in the 2-1 victory after being asked by Warnock to play wing-back for the first time in his career.
After claiming his first Premier League goal in SIX years, Hoilett (below) said: “The manager told me in the week I’d be playing wing-back and it made me think a while.
“I’d not played there before but I surprised myself. It worked out and it shows the gaffer is a great tactician. Everybody plays for the manager here and gives 100 per cent. You see how hard we work for each other.”
Aron Gunnarsson had earlier cancelled out Wolves’ first-half opener and Hoilett’s wonder strike gave Cardiff back-to-back top-flight home wins for the first time for 57 years.
The Friday night victory also moved Cardiff out of the danger zone and allowed Warnock to celebrate his milestone birthday in style yesterday.
“I’m sure he’ll remember this birthday,” Hoilett added.
“It shows how we fight to the final whistle and give 100 per cent no matter what.
“It’s a great club and against all odds we grind out results. We’re more relaxed now going into the West Ham game and it will ease the pressure on us if we pick up results in the next few weeks.
“If we stay positive like we did in the second half we’ll be all right.”
Wolves, promoted alongside Cardiff last season, made a seemingly smooth transition to the Premier League in losing only once in their opening eight games.
But a dramatic slump in form has seen Nuno Espirito Santo’s outfit fail to win since early October, picking up just one point from a possible 18 since then.
Wolves also have a testing run of fixtures ahead of them, with home games against Chelsea and Liverpool as well as trips to Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City before the middle of January.
Matt Doherty marked his 200th league appearance for Wolves with his second goal of the season but acknowledged the tough task ahead of him and his team-mates.
The right-back, 26, said: “We need to get off this run as soon as possible. It’s frustrating to lose five in six for the quality of players we have and the way we play.
“But our confidence hasn’t gone. I think you would be able to tell in our play if we were not looking for the ball, showing for angles or were hesitant.
“We’re not used to losing consecutive games but you can see in our play we’re not panicking.”