Warnock relishing playing the hunter’s role

NEIL Warnock piled all the pressure on Cardiff City’s promotion rivals Fulham in the wake of the Bluebirds’ 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.

Jack Grealish’s stunning volley secured victory for Villa over the Bluebirds on Tuesday night, the second time in four days Cardiff lost to a long-range strike, demoting them to third place in the Championship and outside the play-off spots.

And while Warnock was not downhearted about his side’s promotion chances, he admitted it was nice to now be the ‘hunter’ rather than the ‘hunted’ as Fulham beat Reading 1-0 to jump into second place.

He also took a cheeky dig at Aston Villa – and Wolves – and the way they celebrated a narrow win over Cardiff, with late drama marking both agonising encounters.

“You could see what it meant to Villa at the end, you would have thought they’d won the World Cup!” laughed Warnock.

“So we’ve come a long way when teams like Villa and Wolves celebrate like that against us, having been second-bottom when I turned up.

“They were a credit to me tonight, the lads.”

With the race for second place now anybody’s game – Cardiff trailing Fulham by a single point with a game in hand – Warnock sent a message to ensure Slaviska Jokanovic’s side know they’re in for a scrap.

He again cast his troops as the underdogs against the Cottagers, unbeaten in 20 games after their latest victory.

“I think it’s nice to be the hunter rather than the hunted,” added the veteran boss. “I thought they might have scored more than one goal (against Reading), Fulham, so it just shows you.

“Things are going to happen between now and the end of the season. (Fulham) are a very good team, they talk a good game as well. So we’ve just got to concentrate on ourselves and it’s different when you’re out front.

“But the striker they got on loan has been the best signing in the whole league.

“That’s what they’ve been missing for the past few years and all credit to them.”

Jokanovic, meanwhile, insists automatic promotion is still in Cardiff’s hands, despite Fulham leapfrogging the Bluebirds into second place in the Championship.

Stefan Johansen scored the goal to seal Fulham’s Tuesday night triumph, boosting confidence around west London that the Whites could snatch a top two berth.

The result left Jokanovic’s side one point ahead, albeit Warnock’s team have a game in hand.

And in response to Warnock’s claim Jokanovic was quick to point out that the Bluebirds’ fate remains in their own hands.

“I don’t know how they feel, we catch our first target and we must be quiet and try be ready for next step,” said Jokanovic when asked about the race for second place.

“You must ask them, because I don’t know if they are in good momentum or not, I didn’t watch the game (against Aston Villa). We will look at us.”