Brian Barry-Murphy’s side sit four points clear at the top of League One and a full 26 ahead of Plymouth Argyle, who are 12th.
Both clubs dropped out of the Championship last season, but while Cardiff have surged into promotion contention on the back of a 12-game unbeaten run, Argyle have found the transition more difficult.
That gap in the table does not fool Barry-Murphy.
"I think it's easy to forget where they came from last season.
"They were probably viewed as being a better team than ourselves at the start of the season."
Plymouth arrive in improved shape, having strung together back-to-back victories, and the Cardiff boss is wary of the threat they pose — particularly on their own patch.
"They're back in flying form and making great strides.
"It's been very clear how well they've started games and the type of football they've played has been very good."
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Home Park has long been a testing venue and Barry-Murphy expects another searching examination of his leaders’ credentials.
"It'll be a great test for us. More often than not it's a really good playing pitch, so looking forward to that and trying our best to play with the intensity that we know will be needed to be competitive," Barry-Murphy said.
Cardiff cruised to a 4-0 win in the reverse fixture in August, but the manager has no interest in revisiting past results — or in getting caught up in talk of the run-in, even with promotion chatter building.
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"I know it's only February, but everywhere you look people are talking about the business end of the season," said Barry-Murphy.
"When you look at your players, how do you think they're coping with a challenge? 12 games unbeaten seems like a pretty good indicator.
"If you get ahead of yourself, you saw what happened, Arsenal go to Wolves in what's perceived to be a straightforward game, and before you know it, it's not.
"We have to be focused on today and then see where we are on Saturday."
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Team news offers cautious encouragement. Striker Yousef Salech has returned to the training ground after suffering neck ligament damage in the 1-1 draw at Stockport on 24 January. The 24-year-old required a hospital scan and has been sidelined since, but is edging closer.
Having previously said Salech was “not close” to a comeback, Barry-Murphy provided a measured update.
"He's back on the pitch today doing some running and then to see how he progresses from there before he re-enters training with the team.
"It's step by step and we're still keen not to put any timescales on it, due to the nature of what he's gone through and what he likely will experience in his return to play.
"He's in really good spirits. If the running goes well today and continues next week, at some stage he re-enters into training with the team, things can progress pretty quickly."
Defensively, Gabriel Osho is expected to be available after missing the 4-1 win over AFC Wimbledon, while Isaak Davies remains a doubt as he continues concussion protocols.
"We anticipate both will train this afternoon," said Barry-Murphy.
"In Gabriel's case, it should be pretty straightforward. Isaak less so, just going to see how he reacts to his first exposure with the team and take it from there."
