Cardiff boss Dave Jones praised his side for their gritty 2-0 win at Hull which keeps them a point off a top-two finish. Jones said: "It was a hard-earned victory for us and I was pleased we kept our nerve and our discipline because there were a few people out there who were a bit angry with the person in the middle.

"It was all about getting the three points today and not having someone sent off because they were getting frustrated. There wasn't one person who shirked their duty.

"After Swansea's win earlier on, it was important for us to get a victory, not a draw, and we set ourselves up to win the game.

"This lot were going really well and we knew it would be a difficult place to come, but I thought that if we matched them in every department we would have that bit of quality to win the game.

"Michael was due one with his head and it was a terrific finish because he was at least 12 yards out.

"It was an all-round good team performance. It was a very hard game and there are a lot of tired bodies in there, but we've now got a free week to get some players back.

"Now we've got 12 games to go and it is wide open - that's why victory today was so important. Victory for Hull today could have let them into the (promotion) pack."

Hull manager Nigel Pearson had no complaints over the result and felt his side generally performed well.

He said: "We came up against a good side today, and when we had chances we were unable to take them.

"I was disappointed with how the first goal came about. It was a nothing goal and it wasn't like us. The second goal put a slightly different slant on the result.

"In the last couple of months we've done to sides what Cardiff have done to us, and you have to recognise we came up against a good side today and they were better than us.

"The players are very disappointed because we know it's a game we could have got something out of, and that shows how far we've come. But we need to bounce back.

"The bigger picture is that we could say it's a missed opportunity, but another way of looking at it is that we haven't lost ground either.

"The players have given a decent account of themselves, but we just weren't able to put them under enough pressure and I've got no complaints.

"Cardiff always looked dangerous because of the individuals they have, but in the first half in particular we had long spells of looking pretty dangerous. We coped with their threat very well for the most part."