Neil Warnock Praises His Squad's Confidence Following 2-0 Win Against West Ham

Neil Warnock praised the confidence his squad showed following a massive 2-0 win against West Ham on Saturday afternoon that could be a defining game for the Bluebirds in their fight for Premier League survival.

The win was helped by a fourth-minute goal from Junior Hoilett, which opened the game up for the Bluebirds and a goal shortly after half-time from Victor Camarasa sealed the win for Cardiff City. Despite missing some good chances in the second half, Warnock was still happy with how his team controlled the match in every aspect on the pitch. 

Warnock told Cardiff's official website: "Winning is the only way to answer the critics, you don’t get a performance like that with a split camp. They were fabulous and I don’t think there was a weakness.

“We worked hard in training, it’s benefitted us and I think the selection was right because we wanted to have a go at them from the start. It was nice to score first and the only disappointment was not scoring two or three more in the second half, with the chances we had.

“It’s probably the biggest win of the season and there were a lot of positives - that was our eighth clean sheet. It brings a few more teams back into the pack and makes them more nervous, and I think we’re capable of getting a few more results between now and the end of the season.”

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Warnock then moved on to praise his players, and provide injury updates on Camarasa and Joe Bennett. 

“You could see the confidence and there were some real pluses for me. Josh Murphy and Junior Hoilett weren’t just threatening in attack, but their defensive side of the game against Aaron Cresswell and Ryan Fredericks, two of the most attacking full-backs in the league, was magnificent.

“I thought our two centre-backs and full-backs were fabulous and in midfield, Aron Gunnarsson ran the show. Harry Arter got the crowd going with his energy and Víctor Camarasa oozed class. Then, Oumar Niasse made their defenders know that they were in a tough game and I’ve asked the two wide players to contribute to goals, so I couldn’t have asked much more from them."

Cardiff now have a three-week rest before their next Premier League match against Chelsea on 31 March which could see them climb out of the relegation zone for the first time in over a month.