Wigan Athletic 0, Cardiff City 0
Neil Warnock wants his Cardiff City team to finish their Championship season in style.
They are safely in mid-table, completely out of relegation danger and beyond reach of the play-offs, but Warnock wants more from his team.
“I don’t think anyone needs to be asking me what I’d like to get out of the next two games,” he says. “Huddersfield are my old club and Newcastle are a team I’d love to beat, if I’m honest.
“Two wins out of two would be nice and that’s how we will be looking to finish.”
Wigan are facing relegation after failing to win against the Bluebirds. Their hopes of remaining in the Championship are out of their hands and they will go down if Birmingham City avoid defeat by Aston Villa on Sunday.
Wigan are six points adrift of safety with two games still to play, but they will be relegated if 21st-placed Birmingham draw or beat city rivals Villa in their game in hand on Sunday.
Cardiff are 13th place and Warnock says: “It’s incredible what the players have achieved done since I’ve been here. The lads have knuckled down really well. It wasn’t a pretty game at Wigan, but you can see the spine of the team is extremely good.
“If we can add a few goals and a bit more quality in certain areas I’m looking forward to a good 2017-18.”
Relegation for Wigan would see them drop down to League One after only one season in the Championship.
Cardiff are at home against Newcastle United next Friday before their final fixture at Huddersfield the following weekend.
Newcastle are already virtually promoted and can make certain when they play Preston North End at home on Monday evening.
While manager Rafa Benitez and his United players prepare for Premier League football next season, Wigan are heading in the other direction.
Wigan manager Graham Barrow said: “That’s probably as good a 90 minutes as we’ve played for quite a while.
“If I’m being brutally honest, we missed our opportunity in the first 20 minutes by not being that little bit more ruthless, That’s the only thing I can fault about the performance.”
Wigan Athletic: Gilks, Burke, Morgan, Burn, Warnock, MacDonald, Jacobs, Hanson (Colclough 58), Perkins (Bruce 80), Tunnicliffe, Obertan (Powell 57).
Subs not used: Power, Morsy, Jaaskelainen, Byrne.
Cardiff City: Amos, Connolly, Morrison, Manga, Bennett, Gunnarsson, Noone (Meite 80), M Harris (Lambert 57), Ralls, K Harris (Halford 85), Pilkington
Subs not used: Peltier, Richards, Whittingham, Hoilett.
Referee: Oliver Langford
Attendance: 10,875
