SOL CITY STAR IN TEAM OF THE YEAR

BAMBA DESERVEDLY NAMED IN PFA’S CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM OF THE SEASON... BUT HE’S THE ONLY CARDIFF PLAYER DESPITE A STELLAR CAMPAIGN

SPORT

NEIL Warnock reacted to Fulham finally overtaking Cardiff by claiming his side were no longer hunted, they had become the hunter.

Well, that didn’t last long. One set of fixtures later, things are back exactly the way they were with remaining games rapidly diminishing.

In fact, if results go Cardiff’s way, they could secure promotion within the next week. After such a long and exhausting campaign, the fact that things could be done and dusted that quickly feels rather bizarre.

Before getting ahead of ourselves, three tough encounters await first, starting with Fulham’s trip to Millwall tomorrow night.

Having been pegged back in the dying seconds of their game against Brentford at the weekend, Fulham will be looking to bounce back against another local rival. Fortunately for Cardiff, playing at The New Den may be the most daunting trip in the division at present.

Millwall are unbeaten since New Year’s Day and have recently forced their way into the top six. Included in that remarkable run was a 1-1 draw with Cardiff, which was up there amongst the toughest games the Bluebirds have played this season.

Coupled with a physicality that you have come to expect from Millwall, they also play with a remarkable intensity. It was credit to Cardiff that they managed to absorb and adapt to that pressure and were a perfectly-valid disallowed goal away from taking all three points.

I’m not sure that I’ve ever witnessed a home crowd routinely boo any backwards passes before, but Millwall supporters expect their team to play on the front foot and it does not strike me as the ideal game for a wounded and under-pressure Fulham side right now.

If they do manage to emerge with the win that they need, they will deserve a great deal of credit, but slip up and it’s advantage Cardiff.

Warnock recently revealed that he had voted for Millwall manager Neil Harris, who was briefly a Cardiff player some years back, as his manager of the year and he will be looking for him to do Cardiff a big favour by taking all three points.

Then 24 hours later, Cardiff will entertain Nottingham Forest.

Former Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka took charge there at the start of the year and brought in a lot of high-profile players during the January transfer window. One of which was Lee Tomlin, who will be ineligible to face his parent club.

The expected upturn in form has not yet materialised and before last weekend, Forest had not scored since March 3, drawing six blanks and collecting only three points in the process. They surpassed a club record of 636 scoreless minutes, but found the net four minutes later and sealed a win over Ipswich with a second goal six minutes later.

Currently 17th in the table, Forest are in no danger of being sucked into a relegation battle or troubling the tophalf of the table. Blunt in attack and with very little to play for, they are pretty much the ideal opponent for Cardiff at the moment. In saying that, they will still represent a tricky opponent.

Once those games are out of the way, Cardiff then travel to Derby on Tuesday for the rearranged fixture that was controversially postponed due to snow, or a lack thereof.

As if this game needed any extra spice, there are plenty of Cardiff supporters that still bear a grudge relating to the way the original fixture was called off after many had already set off for the match.

Some players were forthright in their opinions on the decision and will relish the chance to make up for lost time.

At the time, Derby were in a poor run of form and had several key players missing. Although their fitness concerns have since improved, their form is still stuttering.

A shock 3-1 defeat at Burton Albion on the weekend saw manager Gary Rowett criticise his team for not showing enough desire.

“If you play Sunderland at home and you play Burton Albion, they are both bottom at the time of playing them, and if you don’t capitalise on those games then you are going to come in for massive criticism and we deserve everything we get,” Rowett claimed post-match.

Rowett, having recently signed a bumper new deal after being linked with the Stoke job, is now tasked with rousing his side ahead of a nightmare run of fixtures against Middlesbrough, Cardiff and Aston Villa.

Derby have been bumped out of the play-off places by Millwall and face a