Erol Bulut believes Cardiff have rediscovered their confidence after grinding out a 2-1 Championship victory over Stoke.
Bulut’s men impressed in the first half at Cardiff City Stadium, with Kion Etete’s header in the fifth minute ending the Bluebirds’ four-game run without a goal at home.
Karlan Grant put the hosts 2-0 up in the 32nd minute – with what was his fifth goal of the season – before Bae Jun-ho tapped home four minutes before half-time to drag the Potters back into the contest.
But the visitors spurned numerous chances in the second half and fell into the relegation zone after suffering a sixth defeat in seven matches.
Victory was Cardiff’s first at home since beating Millwall in early December and ensured they claimed four points from the six on offer this week following a 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night.
“When we had the last win at home, it was a long time ago,” said Bulut. “The confidence was not the best in the team because we lost games.
“I said after the last game (against Blackburn), ‘this is a game where we have to get our confidence back’. We got one point and this game was to continue to build on our confidence.
“It was a must today to get three points. I’m really satisfied with the performance of the team.
“Of course, you can add in parts of the game, better football, but in the situation we’re in right now, the first half was really good. We scored two goals, we got an early goal from a free-kick.
“We fought until the end to not concede a second goal.”
Stoke dropped to 22nd after losing for the third game running on the road.
Steven Schumacher was jeered by the away supporters after the game and the Stoke boss admitted he fully understood the frustrations of the Potters faithful.
“It’s understandable because we’ve lost another game of football,” he said. “I think they can see that the players have tried and gave 100 per cent.
“In two key areas of the game we haven’t been good enough. That’s been a recurring theme throughout the whole season – not just lately – and that’s why we’re in the position that we’re in.
“So we get it, all we ask is, we all need to stick together because we’re going to need their support for the next 12 games.”
And on the defeat to Cardiff, Schumacher said: “It’s similar to what I’ve said numerous times since I’ve been here.
“A team that’s been in control of the game, created more chances than the opposition, had more corners and more attempts at goal, but we’ve lost it because we’ve been punished from two errors and haven’t been clinical in our finishing.”
Hull City 3-3 Ipswich Town: Tigers fight back three times to deny Tractor Boys
Ipswich Town missed the chance to move into an automatic promotion spot as play-off-chasing Hull City came from behind three times in a thrilling 3-3 Championship draw at The MKM Stadium.
Ipswich knew a victory would take them second after Leeds United were surprisingly beaten 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers on Friday, and they led on three separate occasions, George Hirst opening the scoring before Omari Hutchinson produced two brilliant strikes from the edge of the area.
However, buoyed by slip-ups from rivals Norwich City and West Brom earlier on Saturday, Hull dug deep to fight back on each occasion, Ozan Tufan and Liam Delap scoring their first two equalisers.
With Liam Rosenior's men 3-2 down with just four minutes to play, substitute Noah Ohio blasted his shot in off the crossbar to punish an error from Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
The result keeps Ipswich behind second-placed Leeds on goal difference, though the Tractor Boys have a game in hand to come at Coventry City on Tuesday.
Hull, meanwhile, are two points adrift of the top six, with Norwich's goal difference advantage meaning their top-six spot is all but assured. The Tigers will, however, leapfrog West Brom if they beat Plymouth Argyle on the final day and Albion lose to Preston North End.
Data Debrief: Hutchinson's best not enough
Hutchinson was a man who deserved to be on the winning side on Saturday, giving Ryan Allsop no chance with two near-identical left-footed strikes from the right corner of the penalty area.
His goals came from an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.6, and he led all players on the pitch for shots (eight) and passes in the final third (21), also laying on three chances for his team-mates.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided
Huddersfield Town saw their relegation from the Championship all but confirmed after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Terriers avoided a defeat that would have seen them relegated on Saturday, but even a win on the final day over promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town will not be enough unless they overcome a huge goal difference of 15 goals with Plymouth Argyle.
Birmingham remain in the other relegation place and now must beat Norwich City to stand a chance of staying up with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Blackburn Rovers also still in danger.
At the other end of the table, the Canaries dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, leaving the door open for Hull City, who face Ipswich Town later today.
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