Neil Warnock heaped praise on Lee Tomlin for his gruelling work ethic in pre-season after he returned to the starting line up for the win over Huddersfield Town on Wednesday night.
Warnock, whose hand was forced by the injuries to Marlon Pack and Callum Paterson, handed Tomlin his first appearance in a Cardiff City shirt since the FA Cup tie against Mansfield back in January 2018.
It was a tough ask for Tomlin, but after he toiled away this summer to reach the peak of his fitness, Warnock believes it was just rewards for the hours of graft put in by the Bluebirds' most mercurial talent.
"He deserves a pat on the back because I never thought he would get as fit as he is in his career after looking at the last two years," Warnock said.
"But lets not get carried away, it's the first game back and he'll be tired after tonight but it'll give him a massive lift and he deserves that."
Tomlin's presence was felt immediately. He put others in space with his passing and created openings of his own with his neat feet to create a handful of good chances for the Bluebirds in the first half.
The manager had asked him to give him a solid half of football before planning to pull him at half-time, but even Warnock realised he was having too good of a game to cut it short at the break.
Tomlin walked off to a standing ovation late in the second half and while there will be a large faction of supporters now expecting him to play a big part going forward, Warnock was quick to temper expectation.
"There was no real option," he said of Tomlin's inclusion. "When Paterson went down (against Reading) and (Nathaniel) Mendez-Laing, I thought we had nothing to lose.
"He's trained really, really hard and I told him when Reidy (Bobby Reid) went that there would be an opportunity in the next few weeks.
"The way he's trained, he's not going to be there every week because I don't think he could sustain that, but an hour here and there gives us another option, especially at home."
