Russell Slade believes he and his Cardiff side are turning a corner after their 2-0 Sky Bet Championship victory over Wolves.
Slade was not a universally popular appointment when he was named as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's successor as Bluebirds boss last October, and a mid-table finish did little to win over the Cardiff faithful.
But there are already clear signs of progress this term after Kenwyne Jones and Sammy Ameobi found the net to sink Kenny Jackett's men and secure a first victory of the campaign.
Jones headed beyond advancing Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme on the stroke of half-time to mark his first start of the season in fine style.
The Trinidad and Tobago international was forced off with an ankle problem in the second half, but his replacement Ameobi took just three minutes to make his mark as his deflected strike gave him his first Cardiff goal on the hour mark and sealed the win.
"Everybody thought I would be down the road by the end of August I guess," said Slade, who confirmed Jones would undergo tests to determine the extent of his injury.
"We are in a good place at the moment and are playing the way I want us to. You can see we are progressing and the players are comfortable with what we are trying to do.
"It was important we got our first win and it will build confidence, which is always important.
"It was pretty even in the first period but we managed to draw first blood which is important.
"Their goalkeeper was committed and Kenwyne just had to get something on it and it went in.
"We controlled the second half and Sammy showed us a glimpse of what he can do."
Wolves, however, had little cause for such positivity after failing to register a shot on target during the 90 minutes as they suffered a second-straight defeat.
"I felt we had a lot of the ball, we dominated the first half but we never really hurt Cardiff," said Jackett.
"The stats show we did not have a shot on target and that tells its own story.
"Converting possession into chances, making sure you go past people, committing people and having a hunger to do that is a big thing.
"We made errors. I think Carl could have stayed on his line for their first goal. We had a two against one situation in terms of defenders and attackers competing for that header and it would not have gone in had he stayed on his line.
"We have not had a clean sheet yet this season, which is frustrating, because we have the power and players to do it. We haven't got the mix right yet."