"I may not be Cardiff born and bred - but I regard myself as a Cardiff boy now," he said. "That's where my heart is and I love playing for Cardiff City.
"It doesn't mean the derby means more to me than the other lads but coming to Cardiff resurrected my career, it turned it around so I love the club.
"I've shown consistency in my game for two years now and I'm really happy here, I've been treated well and I have a manager who gets the best out of me.
"I love the people here, I love the fans and the atmosphere - now hopefully we can get promotion and all push on."
Bothroyd returns to the City line up today after a two match ban and he can't wait to play again.
"It's been frustrating for the last two games because you want to be out there earning your bread and butter," he said.
"But perhaps it's been nice to put my feet up and recover from the bumps and bruises you get.
"And this is a hell of a game to return for. It's the one you look for first in the fixture list.
"Newcastle is a big game for teams in the Championship this year but the hatred between Swansea and Cardiff makes this one much bigger - hopefully now we can get the result and the bragging rights."
Before the match at the Liberty Jay took some stick after hispre match comments seemed to rouse the opponents but the City skipper defended his words.
"I took a lot of stick in the last game," said Bothroyd. "But Swansea are a good side and I never said they weren't.
"They have a good manager in Paulo Sousa, have a nice stadium and are a good club.
"I said they lost key players and a good manager - I don't think it was a mistake saying that, it's what I thought.
"I believed they did lose some key players but they are a good side, they've got the got right results and table doesn't lie.
"They've brought in some quality players but if they used what I said as motivation that's fine.
"We're quietly going about our business this time and hopefully we can get the result,
"And I'm not fazed about what their fans may say - I will concentrate on what I have to do for my team."
Cardiff v Swansea
Saturday 5:20pm
