Cardiff City 2, Preston North End 0
Cardiff City earned their first two-goal victory in almost a year – and were then challenged by manager Neil Warnock.
Goals from Peter Whittingham, from a penalty, and Kenneth Zohore, with a superbly taken second earned Warnock’s men the three points.
All of Cardiff’s previous nine Championship wins this season had come by a one-goal margin, but this time the Bluebirds scored twice and kept a clean sheet.
Their last League win by more than one goal was 2-0 against Bristol City last March.
Warnock was delighted, particularly by City’s top quality first half display, and said: “We have 17 Championship fixtures left – and I’ve asked the players whether they can finish this season without conceding a set piece goal.
“We haven’t let one in since I arrived here and that’s the challenge I’ve set my players.”
Cardiff were impressive against a Preston team who had the majority of possession and had lost only once in their previous nine away games.
Warnock, meanwhile, was busy on and off the pitch.
He sent three players out on loan during the final day of the transfer window. Stuart O’Keefe (to MK Dons), Emyr Huws (to Ipswich) and Matty Kennedy (to Plymouth) headed out and Warnock revealed he was close to bringing ‘two or three in’.
When the deadline passed, though, there was no good news for the City boss. He had almost negotiated a swap deal with Ipswich, but said: “The player I wanted is injured and we couldn’t press ahead with that.
“Then I expected an agent to ring me back at 5pm and he called me at 10pm.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t bring anybody in. We were close, but it’s a nightmare when we have a game as well. I tried to have a kip and my phone went off 20 times.”
Warnock described the situation where clubs had Championship fixtures while trying to organise transfers in and out as a ‘disgrace’.
“We won’t get the striker I want until the summer,” he said. “I want a top quality forward to push Kenneth Johore, who was busy all evening and did well.
“Emyr Huws came to see me and said he wanted to go out and play even if he took a drop in wages. That’s a top attitude.
“Stuart O’Keefe joined MK Dons, while Matty Kennedy has joined Plymouth and I will be keeping a careful eye on him.
“I told Matty that he must play as much as possible and come back for pre-season with Cardiff.”
Goalkeeper Alan McGregor and his defenders kept a solid clean sheet and the only real disappointments from the match were injuries to Lee Peltier and Sol Bamba.
Both came off with Matt Connolly and Greg Halford slotting into the back division.
Cardiff went ahead after 18 minutes when Junior Hoilett wriggled past two defenders inside the penalty area and was shoved over by Daniel Johnson. Whittingham netted from the spot-kick with cool efficiency.
The second goal came just before the half hour when Whittingham slotted a magnificent pass which picked out Zohore’s run down the middle. He left three defenders trailing and produced a composed finish, chipping past the keeper as he rushed out.
Anthony Pilkington and Rickie Lambert were both missing from the Cardiff squad because of minor injuries, but both could be ready to return for Saturday’s home clash with Norwich City (3pm).
Cardiff City: McGregor, Peltier (Connolly 46), Morrison, Bamba Healey 90), Richards, K Harris, Whittingham (Halford 78), Gunnarsson, Ralls, Hoilett, Zohore. Subs not used: Noone, John, Kennedy, Murphy.
Preston North End: Maxwell, Browning, Clarke, Huntington, Cunningham, Gallagher, Pearson (Browne 78), Johnson (Beckford 46), Horgan (Robinson 67), McGeady, Hugill. Subs not used: Lindegaard, Makienok, Pringle, Boyle.
Referee: Graham Scott
Attendance: 13,894.