Saturday's match ended a run of ten really testing games in which the opposition have either been up near the top of the table or in a run of good form when we played them - apart from that awful first half at Plymouth we have been competitive throughout and I would say that it is generally agreed that we haven't picked up the number of points that our performances deserved.
However, the last three matches have offered plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the second half of the season. For me the second half performance against Preston was the best I have seen us play this season and we followed that up with visits to two clubs who were unbeaten at home since August. After the Burnley game their manager talked of how grateful he was to end up with a point and before yesterday's match there was much talk from Jim Magilton about how his side had turned Portman Road into a fortress again and yet, by common consent, we could and should have won by more than 2-1.
I think that as supporters we are sometimes too close to the action to acknowledge what we have got now at Cardiff City. I reckon opposition supporters now look at a win over us as being up there with their best results of the season because even those who love nothing better than do us down have to admit that we are a really hard side to beat this year.
Here are a few random stats about teams we have played recently
Crystal Palace's recent record
P 9 W 6 D 2 L 1 - that defeat was at Ninian Park
Preston's recent record
P 8 W 5 D 2 L 1 - that defeat was at Ninian Park
Burnley's recent home record -
P 7 W 5 D 2 L 0 - one of those draws was against us
Ipswich's recent home league record
P 10 W 5 D 4 L 1 - we are the team that beat them
Blackpool's record before we beat them at Ninian Park
P 7 W 2 D 5 L 0
On the face of it, a points return of fifteen points from those ten games might not appear particularly brilliant, but they have to be looked at from the context of who we were playing. Dave Jones received the Manager of the month for October for winning three and drawing two of our five matches in that month, but when you take into account the sides we played then and the ones we have played since then, I would argue that the fifteen points from ten games since October is the more impressive achievement.