Warnock fired up for ‘biggest game of my career’ as Cardiff edge closer to top flight

He has 1,423 others to compare it with, but Neil Warnock is unequivocal as to where the next match ranks in his 30-plus years of management. ‘It’s as big a game as in my whole career,’ the 69-year-old said as he aims to clinch a Football League record eighth promotion by steering Cardiff back into the Premier League. ‘It’s massive.’ Victory next Sunday over a reading side who appear to have downed tools despite not being safe from relegation will end a four-year exile from the top flight and complete a remarkable transformation for the Welsh club, who were second from bottom in the Championship when Warnock, the man people either love or loathe, took charge 18 months ago. ‘It’s just nice that we’ve brought the whole club together,’ said the yorkshireman, who has fashioned a team that is so much more than the sum of its parts. ‘It’s a really happy place. I love to turn clubs round like we’ve managed here. ‘the last time I experienced something like this was when I went to Sheffield United. It was a little bit fragmented behind the scenes and we built something there. this is very similar. It took me three years there so this has been a little bit quicker and better.’ Cardiff are within touching distance of a £100million promotion jackpot but they could still be put through the agony of the play-offs if they slip up against the royals and in-form Fulham pip them to the second automatic promotion spot. In what promises to be a nerve-shredding finale to the nine-month Championship

marathon, Cardiff could even lose and go up as long as they match Fulham’s result at Birmingham — who, like reading, are still not assured of Championship football next season. Warnock’s assortment of journeymen pros and streetwise scufflers will be backed in their mission by a 33,000 sell-out on sunday, and if the belting rendition of Land of My Fathers from the 2,500 travelling supporters at the KCoM stadium is anything to go by, reading’s former swansea manager Paul Clement might like to issue his players with earplugs. ‘it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck,’ said Warnock. sean Morrison led by example as Cardiff held their nerve to dispose of Hull. The captain broke the deadlock with a towering header before running the length of the pitch to round-off a flowing counter-attack with a late second that took his season’s tally to seven goals from centre back. ‘We know what a huge occasion it will be on sunday,’ the 27-year-old said. ‘We need as many Cardiff fans as possible there making lots of noise. The pressure was on us but we always seem to find a way to bounce back. We’ve got a week to rest up now, to prepare and then go again for the biggest game of our lives.’