Robert Glatzel has earned the praise of his manager Neil Warnock after scoring his first goal for Cardiff City.
The German striker – a £5.5million summer signing from Bundesliga 2 side Heidenheim – equalised from the penalty sport as the Bluebirds drew 1-1 at Derby County.
The result moved Cardiff up to 12th in the Championship table, but they continue to look like a team pedalling hard without really travelling a great distance.
A draw was the fairest result at Pride Park as Warnock’s side could easily have won or lost the game in a scoreless second-half following an opener for Derby from their former Cardiff full-back Scott Malone.
Warnock remains optimistic his side are close to finding a run of results that can launch them higher up the table and took Glatzel’s first goal in his sixth game as a sign of better things to come.
“He’s done ever so well for us,” said Warnock of the German striker.
“He’s great in the dressing room and the lads love him as well. He puts them away in training and it’s lovely to get your first goal.
“We’ve had a few problems this week. But the other lads are a week nearer to getting fit as well. We’re hanging in there and we’ve gone four games undefeated.
“I thought we looked solid tonight. You’ve got to set off on those runs, even if they are just points, and I think we’re looking forward to the next game now.”
Both Warnock and Rams manager Philip Cocu were critical of referee Darren England for decisions that went against their side.
Warnock felt Wales international Tom Lawrence should have been sent off for a late tackle on Cardiff skipper Sean Morrison.
“It was a decent game and we had opportunities, but the one disappointment for me is that the referee didn’t give a red card for the tackle [by Tom Lawrence] against Morrison. They are the ones that are done cheekily and they should be punished.”
Cocu thought his team were denied a penalty when Joe Bennett clashed with Martyn Waghorn.
The Dutchman said: “We started well, a lot of energy in the team. We tried to get the ball down and play but they have a completely different style of play, which is not my style.
“For me, the key moment of the game is the foul of Waghorn.
“Normally, I think it’s a penalty, you go 2-0 up and the game is done. These things can be decisive at the end of the game.
“We had some good opportunities to score in the second half, but just couldn’t. That’s part of the game, but these key moments are decisive to us, not to get the victory we deserved.”
Cardiff have now drawn three successive games in the Championship, since their last win over Huddersfield on August 21 and will be anxious to end that winless streak when they host Middlesbrough next weekend.
“I thought we tried to get the win,” added Warnock. “But all credit to Derby – they had some good periods too.
“We had chances again. I thought we had some very good breakaways where the final ball was missing tonight. I was disappointed with that, but I thought the effort was super.”
