Article: Steve Garland
Jay Bothroyd warned the Bluebirds against complacency going into the final few games of the season, following Cardiff's 2-1 derby day victory over local rivals Swansea City.
Now eight points ahead of seventh placed Blackpool with five games to go, the Bluebirds were in a similar position last season as they sat comfortably in fourth position, eight points ahead of Preston North End with just four games to go.
But City would go on to lose three of those matches, allowing the Lilywhites to steal sixth place and a play-off spot by just one goal on the final day of the season.
It is an experience Bothroyd does not want to go through again. In reference he said: "I remember last year and it was sickening to miss out by one goal. It was even more disappointing because we had been in the play-offs for most of the season, only to slip out at the end and we are determined not to make the same mistake twice.
"We got a bit carried away last year. We became a bit complacent and we got stung. We want to learn from our mistakes and I think we have done that this season and we're not getting carried away this time.
"We are taking every game as it comes and our minds now immediately turn to Forest which is another massive game on Monday. If we beat them we can go above them. So we need to put in another performance like we did against Swansea and hopefully we can get the three points."
Bothroyd also claimed the Bluebirds were now in a stronger position than last year as a number of first team players return from injury, saying: " Joe Ledley came back today and Mark Hudson is close to full fitness again, so the gaffer is close to having a fully fit squad to choose from now.
"The gaffer has changed it around this year, but our main strength now is that we have all our players on the way back to full fitness. I think last season some of the lads faded at the end of the season from tiredness because the squad basically picked itself every week as the manager didn't have the resources to change things around. But this year we have a strong squad which can hopefully push us on.
And with the Bluebirds now on a five game unbeaten run, City look to be hitting form at just the right time: "We had our bad period with all our players injured and out of contention and we rode our luck at times, but the teams around us had poor results as well making sure we stayed in the play-offs," said Jay. "But these last five games we have shown our strength and secured some good results. We're buzzing at the moment.
"We are a tight unit and have a great togetherness in the squad and we don't really pay attention to what people are saying about us, which I think has shown in our form of late. We do well, score goals and defend resiliently and have put in some great performances in the last few weeks to bring some vital points.
"We do not want to get carried away about the play-offs and do what we did last year. We just want to win the next game. Our minds are now on Forest and we want to win that game and we want to finish as high in the table as we can."
