Cardiff manager Malky Mackay was pleased to side his injury-ravaged side regain their place in the top six with a 2-1 win over Southampton.
Kenny Miller struck twice in seven second-half minutes to provide the perfect tonic for the depleted Bluebirds who are now unbeaten in eight matches. Mackay had been left with a crippling injury crisis and was without seven first-team players including a trio of attacking options in the form of Craig Conway, Robert Earnshaw and Rudy Gestede.
Reflecting on the game, Mackay said: "We were looking to try and make sure we even had a bench tonight. The options were probably not what we'd have hoped for, but, in terms of positions, it was what we had left fit in the building."
He added: "It was a test for us but we had to be brave and believe in the players and tactics we had to beat Southampton.
"There is a togetherness in the squad and that has grown as the weeks have gone along, and everyone wants to do well for each other. There are no fractures in our team and that is paying off."
Southampton manager Nigel Adkins, who had witnessed his side lose only once in the division - at Leicester - this term, saw his men create numerous chances in the second period.
But the south-coast outfit's wastefulness in front of goal came back to haunt them as they left the Welsh capital empty-handed despite Steve De Ridder's last-gasp consolation.
Adkins said: "I counted that we had six real good chances in the latter part of the game. Rickie Lambert had two headers which you would put your mortgage on him to score.
"Richard Chaplow has shaved the post and de Ridder also missed before he scored. But we're still top and that is a positive for us."
Source: PA
