Neil Warnock insists his Cardiff City side can continue to wear leadership lightly when the face Birmingham City on Friday night.
The Bluebirds can stretch their advantage at the top of the Championship to four points if they record another away victory in their first match since the international break.
Their manager is in relaxed mood and continues to make a convincing case that so are his players. Attempting to burden them with expectation in mid-October is not something he believes can be pinned on their shoulders.
“I don’t think there’s any expectations on us,” Warnock said. “We don’t have to worry about that, as I don’t think our fans expected anything other than, ‘Can we try and get in the play-offs?’.
“I won’t let anyone get carried away – not even our fans. I don’t mind them dreaming, but not getting carried away. I don’t see any pressure. I said to our lot, ‘Let’s enjoy it while we’re there – don’t let’s worry about where we are’.”
Warnock will assess the fitness of midfielder Aron Gunnarsson, who played in the two games which secured Iceland’s World Cup qualification, despite his manager’s misgivings because of a thigh strain.
But whether Gunnarsson plays or not – and Warnock has joked that the club will need to breathalyse their Russia-bound star after his exuberant celebrations – the manager believes assessments are still premature.
“The next five games will decide a lot in our season, really. We have another international break then and I think after 15 games you are well down the road, you have an idea of what you have.
“I always said to our lot originally that if we can be in the top six by the end of October and top 10 by January I would be quite happy, because I think we would have a chance of the play-offs.
“But where we are now is all credit to the boys. So if we can stay in that top area after the next five games I’ll be delighted.”
Birmingham are mired in the relegation zone after a poor start to the season under Harry Redknapp, which cost the vet0eran manager his job last month.
The appointment of former Bristol City boss Steve Cotterill may provide the Midlanders with some immediate bounce, but Warnock is disappointed that the dismissal of 70-year-old Redknapp has suddenly given him an unwanted accolade at the more youthful age of 68.
“I’ve spoken to Harry a couple of times since he left and I think he was disappointed with some of the support he got from upstairs,” added Warnock.
“One or two of the targets were promised and never materialised. You’ve got your plans in place and sometimes they work. I thought he’d have got the results.
“I just said I’m disappointed because I’m now the oldest. Harry’s done most things a manager wants to do. Me, I do enjoy this level and I actually enjoy working with the players I’ve got. I haven’t enjoyed working in the Premier League with some players.
“They have a new manager and I look at it like when I came here last year and we played Bristol City in a game on TV. We were second bottom and they were flying high.
“So, I expect a very difficult game and I don’t kid myself. We want a result but I know how difficult it’s going to be.
“If we’re not okay, like at Preston, things can go against you. It’ll be a good atmosphere on television and the same against Middlesbrough. “The next five games will decide a lot this season because there’s another break then.
“I always said to our lot, if we can be in the top six by the end of October and top 10 by the end of January, then we’ll have a chance of the play-offs, but where we are now is a credit to the boys.”
Warnock believes the two-week break will have a revitalising effect on his squad – especially his front three of Kenneth Zohore, Nathanial Mendez-Laing and Junior Hoilett.
With Canada already out of World Cup contention, Hoilett was spared a trans-Atlantic trip for a match against El Salvador and Warnock added: “Junior was busy with Canada in the summer and so the break will have done him good.
“All our front three have been here and looking at them in training, I think the rest from matches will have done them good. We had a lot on our plate, but now we’ve been able to re-group.”
