Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic has not given up hope of reaching the Championship play-off places despite playing out a 2-2 draw at Cardiff.
A Kenneth Zohore brace for the Bluebirds had cancelled out Stefan Johansen's early goal, but Neeskens Kebano's 68th-minute strike salvaged a point for the Whites.
Sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday's defeat to Leeds meant a Fulham win in Wales would have closed the gap to just three points with a game in hand.
However, the Cottagers were lucky to go home with a draw after Bluebirds defender Declan John hit the post in stoppage time in an action-packed game.
"We're disappointed because we created chances, both teams did," said Jokanovic.
"We didn't expect anything to be easy but we needed to be more solid in some parts of our game.
"We gave away too many easy chances and I'm not satisfied with the result."
Johansen, who netted in Fulham's 2-1 FA Cup win against Cardiff last month, haunted the Welsh club again when he gave the Whites the lead in the 17th minute.
But Johansen went from hero to zero in the space of seven minutes after gifting Cardiff an equaliser. The Norwegian midfielder miscontrolled the ball and Zohore surged forward and finished coolly.
Zohore netted his sixth goal in as many games to put Cardiff in front in the 56th minute after latching on to a long ball and emphatically scoring with the outside of his left boot.
However, Fulham hit back after Tom Cairney's clever ball found Kebano, whose scuffed shot trickled past Allan McGregor.
Despite the setback at the Cardiff City Stadium, Fulham are unbeaten in four league games and are now five points behind Wednesday.
"We can't surrender now, we have to push harder and continue to fight for the top six," said Jokanovic.
"Anything is possible - we want to be better than the position we are in. The war is not finished yet."
Meanwhile, Cardiff stay 12th and remain one of the most in-form Championship sides since the turn of the year, collecting 22 points.
Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock signed a new deal to keep him at the club until the end of next season, and he reckons his Cardiff side would have succumbed to Fulham's pressure if they had played each other at the start of his reign in October.
"With the chances we had we should've been 4-0 up at half-time," said Warnock.
"Both teams can feel disappointed that they didn't win it. But we've come a long way and that's a game where I think we would've been beaten earlier in my tenure.
"We've got to try to get the other lads to take their opportunities, like Kenneth [Zohore] is doing."