McCarthy – it was a hard earned victory

Delighted Cardiff City manager Mick McCarthy was naturally a happy man after he watched his side avoid the indignity of being the first side to be on the receiving end of a league double and record a victory at the Liberty Stadium that very much keeps their play off hopes alive.

McCarthy was grateful for Flint’s 8th minute goal that decided the game but said that his whole side put in a ‘shift’ to record the win over the Swans and move themselves closer to the play off places.

Defensively they kept the Swans at bay despite conceding more than 75% possession to the home side but the ultimate stat of 23 shots from the Swans and just 1 on target told a tale of what could have been for the black and white half of South Wales.

Speaking via the official Cardiff website after the game McCarthy said “It was a very hard-earned victory, and it feels good.  We put a lot of work in to ensure that we play as well as we can and the lads certainly gave everything they’ve got.

“I knew they would be better in the second half, but I was really pleased with our first-half performance. If we get that early goal we’re a tough nut to crack, which has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt.

“We’ve had to be really solid as a defensive unit. If one link in the chain breaks, it can let everything else down. But it didn’t tonight, because they all put a shift in.

“It was certainly our night, for sure, that stat that nobody has ever won two games still remains. We’ve beaten our arch rivals, we’ve got three more points and we’re four points off the Play-Offs.

“I wanted to get back on the tail-end of the Play-Offs, and with that result we’ve done it. It gives us momentum, and now we’re going into the break having not been beaten.

“The boys have been working their socks off, so they deserve some time off. Now they can enjoy that time off with the three points in their pocket.”