"We've been up in Yorkshire and Derbyshire and picked up four points out of six with a real patched-up group," said Malky Mackay after City's 1 - 1 draw with Derby County.
"I'm delighted to be bringing McNaughton, Taylor, Turner and Cowie back in, hopefully for Sunday.
"We really ended up quite threadbare tonight, but I'm very proud of the group. We stay top and we stay top scorers in the division as well, which is important."
Although he had no complaints about the decision, Mackay rued the red card picked up by Noone, who was booked for two clumsy challenges in quick succession.
"I was really delighted up to 60 minutes and think we could have gone on and won the game by more," said the Cardiff boss.
"The sending-off then changes that and means you have to be dogged and resilient.
"We were playing a good team here, a team that have only lost once at home and have won their last three games (at Pride Park) and scored nine goals, so it was always going to be a tough game.
"But I thought up to that point (the red card) it was a calm, professional performance and it finished that way.
"I was delighted by the way we made sure we professionally saw the game out."
Derby boss Nigel Clough felt his side could have been awarded a penalty when Peter Whittingham appeared to handle in the area late on.
However, he was also able to take several positives, having seen his side respond well to the setback of conceding an 11th-minute opener.
"Overall I'm very pleased with the performance," said Clough.
"We've generally played very well at home this season. This performance was a continuation of that really.
"We huffed and puffed (in the) second half. I thought we had a lot of the ball, even with 11 against 11, but they are extremely difficult to break down, with 10 or 11 men."
Derby have lost only once at home this term and Clough believes they are now seen as a force to be reckoned with.
"It's good when Cardiff come here and pay us a little bit of respect in the way that they play," he added.
"I think sides are worrying a bit more about us than they used to."