Warnock Hails Bluebirds Spirit

Cardiff boss Neil Warnock praised his players for paying tribute to the late Emiliano Sala with their vital 2-1 victory at Southampton.

At the conclusion of the week in which the club-record signing’s body was recovered from the crashed plane that had been taking him to Cardiff, they ensured the club’s first successive top-flight victories since April 1962 with Kenneth Zohore’s dramatic goal in the third minute of stoppage time.

That Southampton had pulled level just two minutes earlier through Jack Stephens and appeared to have secured a draw furthered the demonstration of Cardiff’s character, which was also rewarded with them climbing clear of the Premier League’s bottom three and arresting their hosts’ momentum.

With fixtures against Watford, Everton, Wolves and West Ham in the coming weeks Warnock’s team could edge closer to what was an unlikely target of preserving their Premier League status, and the manager said: “We could easily have folded, but we were determined.

“We’re limited, but you can’t question their character and what they’ve got under their shirts, because they’ve bags of heart. “We’ve won two on the trot but it should be three; we should have beaten Arsenal. That was the first game since the tragedy; the three games since we’ve been superb.

“Emiliano was a fabulous lad, and it’s appropriate we came down with our black armbands on and put in a performance like that. “We could have put that ball in the corner from the free-kick, but it’s ‘We’ve got to put it in the box and have a go’.

The next few games are all winnable. “All three subs were brilliant. Ken’s (Zohore) back to himself; his eyes are bright. Victor’s (Camarasa) made the goal, and (recent signing Leandro) Bacuna fitted in as if he’s been there his whole life.”