Some will say that we should always beat Championship sides convincingly, but football is rarely so simple. While a 4-0 cruise over Cardiff does not mean we are back to our scintillating best, there are a number of very positive things to be taken from the game, namely:

* The return of a scoring Eduardo
* The sight of two wingers again
* Another clean sheet
* A solid performance from Gibbs at the back
* A nice cameo from Bischoff
* The contribution from Bendtner – yes he should have scored more, but I liked his all-round game
* Yet another goal from RvP with his weaker foot

Of course, Cardiff sat off and looked scared of us, but you can only beat what’s in front of you. The team needs to take the positives from tonight; we are now at the start of a run of games we should win… Sunderland, Fulham, Baggies, Burnley, Blackburn and Newcastle. I also think we can, now that we have some injured players on the way back, get past Roma as well. Come the end of March and our season could be look a lot brighter than it has seemed recently.

On Saturday, if Villa beat Chelsea and we beat Sunderland (neither result being implausible!) we will be two points off fourth place. Two points with more than ten games to go is more than do-able.

Keep the faith!