Cardiff City vs Fulham - Cardiff boss Warnock backs Fulham for promotion
Posted Thursday, August 29, 2019 by PA
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock expects Friday night opponents Fulham to win promotion this season.
The two clubs dropped into the Sky Bet Championship after finishing in the Premier League bottom three last term and have had mixed starts to life in the second tier.
Fulham have three wins from five league games, but travel to Cardiff following back-to-back defeats in all competitions while the Bluebirds are 14th in the table.
If the hosts are to secure a third Championship victory of the campaign on Friday, they will have to try and keep Aleksandar Mitrovic quiet, who has scored four times already this season.
“There’s no doubt Leeds and Fulham are the two favourites,” Warnock told reporters.
“The best signing they made was keeping Mitrovic, he’ll be on hell of a contract but good luck to him.
“If he’s not the best striker then he’s one of the best strikers at that level and the commitment he shows. He’s brought other players in, they’ve got some quality players really.”
Cardiff lost 3-0 at home to Luton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, but prior to that defeat had won two of their previous four games in the Championship.
But Warnock expects Scott Parker’s Fulham to dictate possession in Friday night’s fixture.
He added: “I think Fulham, at home, whenever you play them, it’s going to be a cracking game. They’re going to have a lot of possession because that’s how they play.
“We’ve got to hope that people like Robert (Glatzel) start firing and the centre-backs chip in at free-kicks. It’s time to stand up, really.”
Fulham boss Parker is at the opposite end of the spectrum to Warnock when it comes to managerial experience and admitted he will try to gain more insight from the 70-year-old on Friday.
“It’s a big game for us,” Parker told the Fulham’s official club website. “There’s a long international break coming up and really you want to be going into that break with a positive result.
“We’re going to go to Cardiff and try and put in a really good performance, and hopefully we can get something out of the game.”
Parker added: “Neil’s been in it a long, long while. He’s probably a good one to have a little chat with. Last season I had a little bit of communication with him, and then this year during the summer.
“Like I say, he’s vastly experienced and has done very, very well, especially in this league.”
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