SUNDERLAND V CARDIFF

SKIPPER MORRISON ON BLUEBIRDS’ UNSHAKEABLE TEAM SPIRIT

CARDIFF City’s team spirit has already dug them out of a couple of holes this season and Sean Morrison believes the Bluebirds’ close-knit squad is behind their ability to turn games around.

Cardiff fought back to claim a 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend with an injury-time equaliser, adding to late goals at Fulham and Burton Albion.

It means Neil Warnock’s side have recovered four points with late goals already this term. They are now level on points with the Championship league leaders Wolves and Leeds United, with captain Morrison revealing the players’ off-field bond before today’s clash with Sunderland.

He revealed how Warnock has fostered a harmonious dressing room in South Wales — which is paying dividends on the field.

“We don’t lack spirit, that’s down to the gaffer and the group we’ve got in the changing room,” said Morrison.

“We’re together, we trust each other, we do stuff away from the club, we all get on, and there’s no bad feeling from the boys when people not playing.

“It’s a squad and if we are to be promoted we need that squad together. That shows on the pitch, the number of times when we’ve been behind to come back to draw – the teams who get promoted are the ones who bounce back.

“We’ve got spirit in abundance and it’s one of the best changing rooms I’ve been involved in. That’s the basis of a team that gets promoted, a lot character and a lot of leaders.”

That togetherness was also a factor for Morrison in agreeing a new contract in the summer, despite interest from Sheffield Wednesday.

The Bluebirds rejected a £3million bid from the Owls back in June, with the 26-year-old agreeing a new threeyear contract soon after.

On the transfer speculation, Morrison said: “When it first came about I had a gut instinct which I’ve always gone with, I knew what we were doing here was leading in the right direction.

“From when the gaffer took over in October last year, you could feel the club was on the up as results started to change. I knew it was something I wanted to be part of.

“It got squashed very quickly to be honest, but I definitely 100 per cent made the right decision.”

And while Warnock answered critics on Cardiff’s style of play — insisting that his Bluebirds play free-flowing, entertaining football — Morrison backed up his manager.

The skipper pointed towards Warnock’s decades of management experience. He added: “The way the gaffer works and puts his teams out for many a year, a lot teams haven’t handled it over the years.

“It was maybe a bit of fatigue last week, especially in the Tuesday game (at Preston), and we will come up against good teams and there will be days when we won’t be at the races. Those times we have to try and pull through and get the points.

“All we can do now is look forward to this week, it’s a big week with three tough games and if we can come away with a better points total than last week and be in or around where we are now, we’ll be happy going into the international break.

“We’re still joint top of the league. I think if you said to fans if after eight games we’d be top of the league, I’m sure they would have taken it.”