February
Newsfile

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Lennie Lawrence has been talking about the weight of expectation at Ninian Park.

"Everybody here is in such a rush and I've just tried to calm it down inside the club.

"The club has come so far in such a short space of time that everyone wants that pace continued.

"It does put pressure on the players. But whereas I can't do anything about the demand from the fans, I have attempted to cool things within.

"The trick is to divert that pressure away from the players. And the truth is that we have to cope -- if we don't, we fall by the wayside.

"Just look at the media attention, for starters.

"It is totally out of proportion with the position Cardiff find themselves in.

"The sort of attention we get is normally reserved for a big Division One club, or a Premiership side.

"That sort of thing fuels the feeling of expectation. "I have been at big clubs and I have been at small clubs - and this is a BIG club.

"The first thing I noticed on my arrival was that there was so much going on here. The team came up last year, there is talk of a new stadium, we're in the midst of another promotion challenge, I'm sorting out new contracts, looking to bring in a new man or two.

"I've got a million balls up in the air at one time. For a lot of clubs, getting in Division One - and remaining there - is a huge achievement.

"For this club, if we can get into Division One, it will act as the trigger for bigger and better things."

Lennie was asked. So can City, with a run-in which includes tough away matches at fellow play-off challengers Oldham, Huddersfield and Tranmere, make it?

"If we don't lose again, we will. It's as simple as that.