McCarthy makes a play-offs admission

A BULLISH Mick McCarthy has finally admitted he has one eye on the playoffs after the South Wales derby win drastically shifted Cardiff City’s momentum.

McCarthy has engineered a quite remarkable turnaround in the Welsh capital, turning the Bluebirds from also-rans into genuine play-off contenders.

The manager has often backed away from addressing the prospect of finishing in the top six, but that victory over arch-rivals Swansea City just has one or two teams glancing over their shoulder at the Bluebirds.

McCarthy was initially tasked with getting City out of a potential relegation scrap, but, after that all-important Swansea win which sees City just four points off the play-offs at present, his target has done a complete 180.

“It’s changed,” he told talkSPORT of his ambitions with eight games to go. “It was to go in, get a winning run and start some momentum and then of course when we did it we are thinking we have got half a chance at the play-offs.

“So, it has changed. I think the mood has changed, the thought process has changed.

“Me, going in with the thought process of just winning a game, I am now looking at the play-offs thinking, ‘Well, why not?’

“There is a lot that has to go well for us, though. And we will have to win a lot of games and carry a bit of luck. “But that’s what we are aiming for.” That winning feeling at the Liberty Stadium last weekend looked to be the moment City fans started to believe again.

It was a rock-solid performance with a patchwork back five which had to sustain a second-half onslaught from the Swans, but did so comfortably.

And McCarthy says it is the result which has filled him with the greatest pride since taking over as Bluebirds boss.

“I’d say so, because it means so much to everybody at Cardiff,” McCarthy said when asked if it was his proudest moment.

“If you saw the game, the players, what they did at the end with the huddle on the pitch, that was reciprocating what the Swansea players did at Cardiff when they beat our lads and they let them know they were doing it. So our lads did the same.

“It had to be the standout one.” And it is heartening to hear just how much he is enjoying things in the Welsh capital, because, as he admits, there was a time when he thought he might be done in English football.

“I hoped not, but I did wonder,” McCarthy said. “I waited a long time after Ipswich. That was kind of sad, that, I left there and there was a bit of a bad rap which I didn’t deserve.

“I think that did affect my chances of getting a job. I waited and waited and nothing came up.”