Dave Jones admits, I feared worst

Jan 6 2008 Wales On Sunday

DAVE JONES admitted he did have concerns when Cardiff saw Chasetown take an unlikely lead at the Scholars Ground.

But the Bluebirds boss insisted it was more to do with the way his side were playing than the threat of an almighty FA Cup shock.

Jones said he was always confident City would book themselves a place in the fourth round despite the heroic effort by the Midland League minnows.

Jones said: “We were sloppy and gave them a goal but I can’t take anything away from them – it was their day.

“We needed a shake-up because we had been a little bit lazy and lethargic and one or two needed to realise we were in a cup game – although it might have been a bit to do with the way Chasetown were playing themselves.

“I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t concerned because I was concerned with the way we were playing, but I knew once we pulled our fingers out we would be fine.

“Once we equalised and got control of the game it was always going to be a case of ‘how many?’ and I think you could see that Aaron Ramsey is going to be a real player.”

Jones admitted Cardiff were keen to keep tradition alive by staging the game at Chasetown; “This is what the romance of the FA Cup is all about and why it is the best competition in the world.

“That’s why there has been so much attention on it, because people are looking for a fairytale, but we’ve been the party poopers.

“But we have been honoured to be a part of Chasetown’s history. Their players were magnificent and they’ve taken just about taken everything they could away from our dressing room, shirts, boots, the lot!”

Robbie Fowler will have a hip operation in America this week while Ricci Scimeca has flown to Dubai to aid his recovery.