Bamba injury night of change
had their troubles this year and are perhaps feeling the pinch of a long slog, this was not a performance that anyone will remember in a hurry.
A lack of quality from an overrun midfield and the lack of creativity or understanding from the front players was disappointing. It was hard to recall a clear-cut chance made for the visitors.
Declan John did not deliver in a rare start and Anthony Pilkington in the No.10 role chased balls and worked hard, but left Zohore isolated so his hold-up play was wasted. One long-range shot was all the Dane really got for his efforts.
Craig Noone couldn’t spark anything and Greg Halford didn’t impress next to a tiring Aron Gunnarsson.
Warnock will have, however, have been heartened by what he saw at the back having made the surprise choice to drop Morrison.
Though he has played more than most in this team and two away games in the space of four days does require a certain amount of rotation, it always feels significant when a captain is dropped.
Throw in the fact that Morrison was criticised for his failure to deal with Wolves’ aerial threat – normally his strong point but not so in the defeat at Molinuex as the hosts scored twice from headers – and there was, from the outside, perhaps added pertinence to his absence as one of five changes.
It allowed Warnock to see the combination of Manga and Bamba for the first time and, despite other aspects of the evening, the resulting defensive display was impressive while it lasted.
Though the two big men would have to keep their wits about them as Barnsley used the pace and enthusiasm of Wales striker Tom Bradshaw to good effect, the fact it was not until the second half that Cardiff’s goalkeeper (by this stage Brian Murphy, on for the injured Allan McGregor) had to make a save told a story of experience and defensive nous.
Sometimes that nous included a bit of bullying, but also plenty of intelligence of knowing when and how to cut out danger before it led to anything to hurt Cardiff.
As a result, the Tykes for all their zip and pace, had little to show for their possession for large swathes of the game. By the time the partner-