Cardiff City: McCarthy was motivated by unwanted Swansea stat
BBC
Sunday 21st March 2021
Swansea City 0-1 Cardiff City: My nerves were shredded - McCarthy
Cardiff City manager Mick McCarthy says he was motivated by wanting to avoid making south Wales derby history.
No side has won a league double in the Swansea-Cardiff rivalry, a statistic that remains intact after Aden Flint gave Cardiff a 1-0 win at Liberty Stadium.
MICK McCARTHY:
"Nobody had ever won both games and I certainly didn't want it to be me," McCarthy said.
"We put a lot of work in and the lads gave everything they have got.
Cardiff had to defend resolutely in the second half, but McCarthy thought they were worth the win.
"It wasn't always composed, but the defending was good, last-ditch tackles, blocks.
"I am thrilled with them."
McCarthy and his staff celebrated wildly at the final whistle and said that Cardiff had been motivated by the Swansea celebrations at Cardiff City Stadium after the reverse fixture.
"I wanted to get back on the tail-end of the play-offs and with this win we have done it," he said.
"The players had motivation prior to the game as Swansea did that at our place, they celebrated like they won the league, our boys just reciprocated, that was all."
Swansea boss Steve Cooper felt his side played well and wants them to remember the strong position they are in to push on and get promoted to the Premier League.
STEVE COOPER:
"It means nothing, but it's as well as we have played for a while, probably since Bristol City here and we lost that game as well," he said.
"The bigger picture is that we are in a really positive league position, one that will be envied by all the teams below us.
"What are we, third? I don't think many people would have put us here at this stage at the start of the season.
"It's a tough one to get over, I won't lie, but we have got to make sure we come back strongly now with nine games to go."
Cooper says his side can bounce back.
"We have got to make sure we regroup, we stay focused, we stick to our plan or working and playing," he added.
"There was nothing wrong with how we played, it was just the important bit at the end.
"But we'll get over the disappointment of today and there's only one way to go and that's to go for it."
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