City chief warns about dangers of cup distraction

WHILE the queues for FA Cup tickets stretched around Cardiff City Stadium, it’s presumed Neil Warnock hasn’t had to mention to his players the dangers of distraction.

With Warnock being Warnock – and the priority of promotion even in a season that will see the footballing machine that is Manchester City head to South Wales next weekend – it’s presumed that no words have had to be wasted on reminding of where the focus needs to be.

“Are you kidding?” the Yorkshireman says when asked exactly that.

“Too right I’ve told them, I’ve told them exactly what this game means to me. This is the game of the season for me, Sheffield Wednesday away.”

It seems, even at 69, you can take the Sheffield boy out of the Blades, but never the Blade out of the boy.

Warnock has spoken before on his love-hate relationship with the Owls and their ‘Wednesdayites,’ about how some of his family – including his sister – are blue and white, while Sheffield United’s underdog status in his childhood pushed him towards the red side of the Steel City.

By the time he finished his press conference yesterday morning, he had a wide smile as he invited those reporters travelling to the game to make sure they got there in time to witness the reception as he steps off the Cardiff team coach at Hillsborough.

“They’re good people there,” he has said. “Yes, they give me stick like nothing on earth, but it’s all friendly and I do like walking in there and seeing some of the young lads and their dads wearing blue and white scarves.

“I always have a chat with one or two and that’s how football should be. It’s gone so far the other way that people get off the bus with their headphones on and go straight into the dressing room, never talking to the supporters or having a laugh.

“There’s nothing wrong with a bit of humour and that’s why I’m still in the game because I enjoy those times.”

But, with the aim being for the good times to continue, the other reason for the focus is the fact that there remains a chance Manchester City matches don’t have to be a one-off.

With the 4-0 win over Sunderland ending a four-game losing streak – and supplemented by the 4-1 third-round cup replay win over Mansfield in midweek – the trip that excites Warnock more than most is also an opportunity to show that the Bluebirds’ recent bounce can continue.

“This is the one I’ve been looking forward to it and the lads won’t start thinking about Man City because they know what playing Wednesday means to me,” he said, adding that he has ensured distractions about next weekend are kept to a bare minimum.

“Fortunately I’ve been in this situation a few times when I’ve been at a lower club playing a big club, so I’ve already organised everything regarding tickets, so the players know the situation, all the requests are done.

“You saw the attitude at Mansfield. We’re a more mature side than we were last year.”

Attitude added to a fresh injection of ability. The game will come too soon for the new striker he wants, but the arrival of Yanic Wildschut has been added to with the loan signing of Liverpool’s young Serbia international Marko Grujic.

Warnock also wants more from his current frontmen, with last season’s top scorer Kenneth Zohore no exception.

Back from a lay-off longer than first expected and that anyone would have wanted, Zohore has begun to look more like his old self – such as his role in providing for Joe Ralls last weekend, the midfielder an injury doubt here – but doesn’t quite have the same sharpness that prompted eight-figure bids for the Dane in the last window.

With Danny Ward now a doubt to play again this term, Warnock wants a new man to both play with and push Zohore, as well as providing him with the rest that the veteran boss had contemplated of late.

“The strikers we’re looking at could all play with Ken, because he can drop a bit deeper as well. It’s up his sleeve,” he said.

“You have to have different options against different teams, and with that many games you have to rest players now and then. At the moment we can’t rest Ken. We have to get a quality player in to take the pressure off.

“He’s coping well since coming back, it’s just his sprinting at the moment. We spoke yesterday about whether he needs to miss a game and get a week of sprint training, because he’s got his match fitness, it’s just that dynamism.

“But I think we’ll see a better sprint from him once he’s scored a goal. I think it’s upstairs with him, he has to get his mind right and get cracking.”

With Warnock hoping his side can crack on with the first challenge at hand rather than the fantasy one that awaits.

The Bluebirds’ Championship clash with Bolton, scheduled for next Saturday, will now be played on Tuesday, February 13, kicking-off at 7.45pm at Cardiff City Stadium.