Daniel Farke has been around English football long enough to know Cardiff City is a team cast in the image of Neil Warnock.
The Bluebirds may not have the financial muscle of Wolves or Middlesbrough in the Championship, but Warnock is building a promotion push forged from steely pragmatism.
“He knows how to win games and you can see how he wants his team to play. He wants a lot of experience at the back and they concentrate simply on defending well, they are well-organised,” said Farke.
“They have a good attitude. They have won many games by the odd goal this season.
“They are in the promotion position at the moment and have not lost at home all season. They’ve conceded the smallest amount of goals in the whole league so it will be a big task.
“They are really good on set-pieces, with long balls and aggressive pressing. We have to control this game with our possession and keep the ball far away from our goal.
“When they are close to our goal there will be crosses, corners, free kicks and throws and that is difficult to defend.
“They have some physical advantages. They have some big bullies in the team. If you try to copy their style I think they would be the better team so we have to bring our style to the pitch.”
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Farke’s depleted squad may have travelled on the back of a six-match winless run in the league but they know what it takes to overcome adversity.
“I think we’ve shown we can win points wherever we go, we won at Sheffield United and Middlesbrough,” he said.
“All of our games have been pretty close, perhaps just one game we’ve had to accept the other team was better, and that was against Wolves.
“We don’t drive to Cardiff and say, ‘They are the favourite and it will be a close loss.’
“No. We all believe that we can win some points.
You are always concerned when you have a period of poor results. When you are on a run like this you look under each and every stone for the answer. It is about confidence. You can see that with Cardiff.
“No-one expects us to get a glorious win but if we do that would be good not only for the table but for the self-confidence. We can then turn our mood and attitude back on track.
“We are not scared about going to Cardiff. We are full of respect but it is a chance for us.”
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