Four-midable City produce the goods to end pre-season campaign on high

CARDIFF City sent the Bluebirds faithful home happy in their final preseason outing against Livingston.

And there will certainly be a number of fans envisaging Neil Warnock and co. celebrating promotion when they go to sleep every night this week ahead of their Championship opener at Burton.

The real business gets underway against the Brewers at the Pirelli Stadium next weekend, but an impressive showing at Cardiff City Stadium against Livingston will have come as a timely boost for the Bluebirds as they were finally able to convert multiple chances against a stern Scottish Premiership outfit.

New recruits Lee Tomlin and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing impressed once again, with the former showing glimpses that he could well be the man supporters look back on in decades as the man who spearheaded their promotion-winning season.

But encouragingly for Neil Warnock, the regulars, most notably Aron Gunnarsson and Sol Bamba, showed they can replicate their high standards from the previous campaign, and even raise them when required.

The Bluebirds’ defeat to Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night had served as something of a reminder that the Bluebirds weren’t the polished product, and that despite their impressive summer in the transfer market, there was still plenty of work to be done.

But the Livingston outing showed that there has been real progress in the Welsh capital under Warnock’s stewardship.

Rain had soaked the Cardiff City Stadium turn prior to kick-off which resulted in a few mis-placed passes from both sides during the opening stages of the match.

And having seen the visitors start relatively comfortably, it was the Bluebirds who had the first big chance of the game as Hoilett – who was thrown straight into the starting line-up having only returned to training from international duty on Thursday – capitalised on a loose ball on the left wing before picking out Zohore in the centre, but the Dane was unable to wrap hit foot around the shot which went just wide.

The Bluebirds grew in confidence, with both Hoilett and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing pressing on the wings, much to the delight of the Cardiff faithful.

And the home fans soon had something to cheer as Zohore raced up the right wing before finding Hoilett in space in the centre of the box to give the Canadian the simplest task of tapping home from six yards out.

The opener seemed to bring the Bluebirds to life as the hosts looked to keep the ball on the surface far more having gone 1-0 up.

And the pressing of Tomlin, Zohore and Mendez-Laing in particular helped to keep Livingston on the back foot for lengthy period of the opening half.

By the time the Scottish Championship outfit had recovered from going behind, the Bluebirds came within a whisker of doubling their advantage through centre-back Sean Morrison who headed wide from Hoilett’s corner.

If Neil Warnock’s decision to give Hoilett a start so quickly after he returned to training proves to be an indicator that the Canadian is likely to get the nod for the league opener at Burton next week, then MendezLaing’s pre-season efforts will certainly put him within a shout of starting on the opposite flank at the Pirelli Stadium.

The winger’s pace caused the Livingston defence problems, and Mendez-Laing nearly capitalised on some poor marking from the visitors midway through the opening half, but he was unable to latch on to Hoilett’s deep cross.

Having been pegged back by the Bluebirds, David Hopkin’s side eventually started to see a bit more of the ball and gave Neil Etheridge – who had largely been untroubled early on – a brief scare as Matthew Knox fired over from the edge of the penalty area on the half hour mark.

Hoilett continued to be a thorn in Livingston’s side on the left flank, and having scored a spectacular goal for