Stephen McPhail has warned Cardiff City's Championship rivals: Michael Chopra is set to score a lot more goals this season.

Speaking ahead of the clash with Watford at Vicarage Road, Macca hailed Chops as the best striker in the division.

Midfielder Macca returned to the team on Tuesday after a three-match ban and earned high praise for his vital role in Chops' four-goal supershow as the Bluebirds demolished Derby 6-1 to halt a barren run of five defeats in six matches..

Irish maestro McPhail, in line to start at Watford, said: "I started playing with Chops at Barnsley. Now I drive him into work, so you could say we've got a close relationship

"On the field, once he starts one of his runs, you need the vision to pick him out and execute the pass. He's great to play with and should get a lot more goals this season. He's dangerous every time he gets the ball.

"He's the best striker in the division - his total is 12 goals, and that speaks for itself. There's nobody near him. He's a better player than when  he left us for Sunderland. He's come back hungry and he's got an edge to him. And Jay is up there to take a lot of the knocks for him."

Macca promised the fans that the Bluebirds would would keep their feet on the ground after Tuesday's six-goal show. He said: "We won't get carried away - we need a good performance at Watford.

"We were in a bad slump and took a bit of stick for it. We had some good team meetings and then went out and showed people what we could do. But tomorrow will be a different proposition, and Watford will be up for the game."