Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock admits his side were a lot worse when his substitutions came on against Derby County on Tuesday.
Derby beat the Bluebirds 3-1 at the Ipro stadium on Tuesday, which means Cardiff now only have a one point advantage over Fulham going into the final two games of the season.
Cardiff had led through Callum Paterson, but a second half double from Cameron Jerome and a strike from Championship top scorer Matej Vydra meant the Rams claimed all three points.
Derby scored the winner in the 82nd minute after Andre Wisdom dispossessed substitute Yanic Wildschut in his own box. The former Liverpool defender laid it off for Vydra who made no mistake.
“Before he went on, I told him to make sure if he’s in the defensive half not to do anything silly, so he obviously listened to me, didn’t he?” Warnock said after Yanic Wildschut’s error.
“We all make mistakes, don’t we, and it’s a good lesson, not just for him, but a good lesson for the other lads and I’ve been saying that to lads in different areas.”
Cardiff stay in the automatic places, but Warnock believes his substitutions were a key factor in his sides collapse.
He said “If I’m really honest, the three substitutes I made, it made us a lot worse.
“I don’t think it helped our cause at all. We tried to give a new lease of life at 1-1 and it didn’t work out like that.”
Cardiff travel to Hull City at the weekend, and will hope for a win in a bid to keep their automatic promotion dream alive.
