Cardiff manager Neil Warnock compares Swansea derby to Rugby World Cup semi-finals
Thursday 24 October 2019 12:11, UK
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock has compared the challenge his players face to keep "cool heads" in Sunday's derby against Swansea with Wales' task in the Rugby World Cup semi-final against South Africa.
In what Warnock described as the "best armchair day of the year" for Welsh sports fans, the national rugby team face South Africa at 9am before Swansea host Cardiff in the Sky Bet Championship at midday, live on Sky Sports.
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Warnock wants his players to be prepared for an intense atmosphere at the Liberty Stadium, but has warned against the danger of a red card, such as the one for France that Wales benefited from in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.
"It's a little bit like the rugby at the moment with the semi-finals coming up," Warnock told Sky Sports News. "You don't want a red card, you don't want some stupidity.
"I think everybody in Wales knows that France might have beat Wales if the lad hadn't have elbowed him in the face. You just get carried away.
"You want your lads to play strong and play hard but don't do anything stupid, don't do anything reckless.
"You do reiterate that in training that you need cool heads, but talking and doing it is two different things."
Cardiff are 13th in the table having won just one of their last five games, but Warnock's side are proving difficult to beat, having lost only one of their last 10.
Following a strong start to the season, Swansea have won just one of their last seven, and sit four points above Cardiff in ninth.
