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Glen Williams

Cardiff City headlines as Morison names points total to avoid relegation and Bothroyd praises Watters' reaction

Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Friday, February 17.

Morison eyeing 40 points

Cardiff City boss Steve Morison believes his side can only begin to relax when they get to the 40-point mark this season.

After four league wins in five, Cardiff have shot themselves up and away from the relegation zone, prompting an air of calm to fall over Cardiff City Stadium, which has not been the case over the last few months.

With 15 games remaining, the Bluebirds have 35 points on the board, but after the match on Tuesday Morison said he wants five more in the bag to consider themselves safe.

"I think we need to get over 40 points and then start thinking about being," he said.

"We are up another place after Hull lost. Reading against Peterborough, that's got 0-0 written all over it hopefully.

"One thing we can do now is concentrate on ourselves a little bit more and maybe see if we can add a little bit more to our game.

"But I'm definitely not going to go away from the basics and the stuff that's been getting us the points."

Oddly enough, that Reading and Peterborough game did finish a goalless draw on Wednesday night.

READ MORE: All the latest Cardiff City news, views, features and opinion here

Bothroyd on Watters sub and Morison

Cardiff City legend Jay Bothroyd says he likes the choice of Steve Morison as Bluebirds boss and praised Max Watters for his reaction after his early substitution on Tuesday.

Morison has been appointed until the end of the season and Bothroyd praised the appointment, believing that, with a good coaching staff, the team can progress on the short-term games next season.

"I like the choice," Bothroyd said on Sky Sports News on Friday morning. "He has been a player in the Championship for a lot of his career.

"We don't know if he's going to be the right choice (long term). If we look at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Man United, he came in and was fantastic, won loads of games, they gave him the job and then things went bad.

"Steve Morison has got a good coaching staff around him, he is getting results, he knows what it means to Cardiff fans and hopefully that can continue.

"If Cardiff can finish mid-table that'll be a positive season for them and they can grow next year."

It comes after the 2-0 home win over Coventry City on Tuesday night thanks to goals from Joel Bagan and Mark Harris.

Bothroyd said it was yet another indicator that there are better things to come.

"It was massive," he said of the result. "Getting back-to-back wins at home was massive.

"Since Steve Morison came in and brought Mark Hudson in, you can look at Cardiff and see some positives. Step by step we are seeing certain signs there is light at the end of the tunnel.

"The game against Liverpool, they played really well and fought until the end. That's what a manager and fans want to see."

The talking point after that match centred around Watters' 37th-minute substitution, before the striker sat in the stands during the half-time break.

Bothroyd himself has previous in that department. During a youth team final at Arsenal, he threw his shirt at the dugout before moving to Coventry a couple of months later. The striker praised Watters for not reacting in such a way.

"The way Max handled it was fantastic," Bothroyd said. "He was fuming he was dragged before half-time.

"With Steve, he doesn't have the luxury of time, he needs results right now, he doesn't know if he'll be in the job next season. He needs performances.

"With me, I was young, hot headed, my attitude wasn't great when I was young. Max showed a fantastic attitude. He didn't react or do anything that would be brought into disrepute, club-wise."

Warnock still not forgiven Azpilicueta

Neil Warnock has admitted his scathing criticism of Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta was clouded by "bitterness" following the defender's role in a crucial Cardiff City defeat in 2019.

Azpilicueta scored an offside equaliser before Chelsea went on to beat the Bluebirds 2-1, preceding Cardiff's relegation from the top flight.

Earlier this week, Warnock said of the Spaniard on talkSPORT: "I think Azpilicueta has been a very fortunate lad to be at a club like Chelsea. I don't think he is a great defender.

"Sometimes in football you need a bit of luck and I think he's had a bit of luck at the right time and in the right place. That's what you need in football, you need a bit of luck to be successful."

It caused quite the uproar from fans and players alike, but Warnock did not back down from the comments on Thursday.

He did, however, concede Azpilicueta was an "excellent wing-back", but confirmed his comments came due to a lingering anger over that infamous decision in 2019.

Warnock explained: "I think he's an excellent wing-back, I'm not sure he's a top-class defender.

"Listen, I don't forgive him for being offside for that goal at Cardiff, that's what it is… it'll be the bitterness underneath."

Sparky and Wintle's classy message

Cardiff City's Mark Harris and Ryan Wintle have sent messages of support to a young Bluebird supporter undergoing treatment for cancer.

In a video message which has been shared on Twitter, the boy's grandfather, wrote: "My grandson is in Hospital for the next 6 months having Cancer treatment and received this video off @sparkyharris11 absolute legend and you probably have no idea how much it’s made him smile today, Thank you."

In the message, Harris says: "Just a quick message to wish you all the best and hopefully me and all the boys see you down the stadium soon."

Wintle said: "Hiya Macsen, it's Ryan Wintle here, Just giving you a quick message to wish you all the best and hope to see you at Cardiff Stadium soon. We'll get the three points for you on Saturday, hopefully!"

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