The two defeats in the past week were not punished by the other sides with Swansea getting one point from six, Forest losing both of their games and QPR losing a game as well.
Leeds and Norwich capitalised and lurking are Burnley who could catch Cardiff with their games in hand.
Top of the table:
| Pos | Team | Pld | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Queens Park Rangers | 36 | +35 | 70 |
| 2 | Swansea City | 36 | +17 | 63 |
| 3 | Norwich City | 36 | +13 | 63 |
| 4 | Cardiff City | 36 | +14 | 61 |
| 5 | Leeds United | 36 | +11 | 60 |
| 6 | Nottingham Forest | 36 | +14 | 59 |
| 7 | Burnley | 34 | +12 | 56 |
Cardiff have two more games this month before the international break and the April run in. Barnsley are the visitors to the CCS on Sunday and it's getting to the point where City just have to win. The nervousness in the stands is showing with City unable to to sell out the stadium with the team in a great chance for automatic promotion. This weekend the club are offering discounted tickets to get the fans down there.
Two defeats won't of helped but come on the place should be rocking. We kick off on Sunday this week to avoid clashing with the six nations game between Wales and Ireland in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday tea time.
Barnsley are 12 points above the drop zone and 13 points away from the play offs. They are set for another season in the Championship and hopefully will not feel the need to fight too hard. The game has far more importance to Cardiff but I hope there's no complaceny from the home side. City hope to have Seyi Olofinjana back for the game. He was due to report for training today with Dave Jones hopefull to have a full squad available. The only exceptions are Lee Naylor and the two crocked keepers Heaton and Marshall.
For the second weekend in a row we play after nearly everybody else so we will know exactly what we can achieve. Hopefully we'll still have a crack at 2nd place if Swansea struggle at Derby.
Dave Jones was left bemused by City's back to back defeats and back to back failures in front of goal. Especially the poor form of Jay Bothroyd as far as goals are concerned.
"You have got to ask the questions why [Jay has not scored]. We will be doing that and we've done that," said Jones.
Since Bothroyd made his England debut as a substitute against France he has managed two goals in 13 matches.
"It's not just about build-up play, you have got to be in certain areas to get it into the back of the net," said Jones.
"That means that you have to got to put in your shift game in, game out and that goes for everybody.
"But for us not to score is difficult to understand when you see the firepower. But then Jay Emmanuel-Thomas had two unbelievable shots on Tuesday and the keeper has made two fantastic saves.
"It's about being in the right place at the right time, because the service we give and everything else is good.
"We have just got to keep working at it. It's not just him [Bothroyd], it's everybody. Everybody's got to continue to work at it and produce what we expect of their abilities."
Barnsley defender Paul McShane is expected to declare himself fit despite breaking his nose in the midweek win against Scunthorpe. McShanewas the man of the match choice in that Scunthorpe match and is a good defender.
Luke Potter (knee) is out, but Bobby Hassell (hamstring) is set to return. The Tykes also have Marlon Harewood in their squad and he scored twice as Barnsley beat Scunthorpe 2 - 1 last Tuesday.
Cardiff really really must do themselves a huge favour and beat Barnsley on Sunday. My stress levels are far too high as they are.
Cardiff City v Barnsley.
Sunday March 13th, ko 3:00pm.