' NEIL WARNOCK WAS HAPPY WITH CROWD & HAD MADE 5 CHANGES TODAY '
'It was 1,000 more than I expected!' Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock responds to criticism of poor attendance
"The game went pretty much as I expected it to, to be honest, if that's being a little bit negative," admitted Warnock.
The crowd of 5,199 was branded as an 'embarrassment' by onlookers on social media but Warnock says it's not just because of the kick off time.
Neil Warnock admitted that the Cardiff City Stadium crowd of 5,199 that saw his side lose 2-1 to Fulham in the FA Cup was 'a thousand more' than he expected.
Cardiff's clash with their Championship rivals was moved to a Sunday morning kick-off to accommodate TV coverage, and both Fulham and Cardiff fans expressed their annoyance in the build up to the match.
Warnock was diplomatic on the matter however, and expressed his surprise at the numbers that turned up.
"It's not up to me at all, but it didn't help our side.
"There were a thousand more than I expected here when I saw the kick-off. To be fair, the Fulham contingent, they made the effort."
Warnock also bemoaned the state of the FA Cup attendances in general.
The Sunday morning clash was shown live on BBC Wales and social media was awash with comments about the vast number of empty seats.
Those who chose to defend the attendance figure pointed towards the unhelpful kick off time, though Warnock says the competition as a whole is losing its mojo.
"It's not just the 11.30 kick-off, it's the FA Cup in general - some of the games, some of the teams.
"Brighton made 11 changes yesterday and won the game so nobody says anything about it.
"It's just how it is I'm afraid at the minute, teams have other priorities."
In order to inject new life into the competition, Warnock has insisted that winners should be rewarded with a Champions League spot to stop sides fielding weakened teams.
The Bluebirds boss himself was forced into giving some fringe players a run out against Fulham and conceded that his priorities lie with keeping the club in the Championship.
But Warnock expressed his disappointment at seeing other teams resting their stars in for cup matches.
"I think it's a sad aspect when you do play a weakened team like I have today," he said.
"The FA Cup is a great competition, but there are other priorities now. Our club cannot afford to go down.
"Bristol City on the horizon is a vitally important game.
"I think until you reward the winners of the cup with a place in the Champions League, you'll see plenty of weakened teams take to the field."
Warnock made five changes to the side that beat Aston Villa last week as he prioritised league survival over cup success.
Some first team regulars were given the weekend off, with the games coming thick and fast as the Bluebirds look to climb away from the relegation dogfight.
Others were rested in order to recover from niggling injuries with some big games on the horizon.
"It went pretty much as I expected it to, to be honest, if that's being a little bit negative," admitted Warnock.
"We had five changes and I didn't feel as though I could risk any of them. A couple of lads have got a tight hamstring, and Gunnarsson's not had a break since knocking England out of the Euro's in the summer.
"So he's on his beach in Dubai somewhere I think - he'll be sending me a picture tonight no doubt.
"Ken [Zohore] had a bit of a knock in training and we didn't want to involve him with such a big game at Bristol. So it was forced in a little way."
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