Cardiff manager Neil Warnock had no sympathy for Brentford striker Neal Maupay after his gilt-edged miss helped the Bluebirds keep pace with the Championship leaders.

The Bees forward missed an open goal which would have levelled the scores at the Cardiff City Stadium after Joe Ralls had put the hosts ahead after eight minutes.

Following Maupay's miss, which saw him take his time to dummy before firing wide with the goal gaping, Cardiff marched down the other end to make it 2-0 through Danny Ward in the 36th minute.

And Warnock believes Maupay got what he deserved for trying to be too clever in front of goal.

He said: "I can't blame anybody but lad himself for that miss. I have no sympathy at all, he's tried to be clever and give someone the eye rather than put it in.

"That's for him to look at and it gave us respite. An equaliser at that stage, and the way they were playing, you think they could start to dominate.

Neal Maupay

"It didn't help that we had five injuries and two suspensions. It was a really difficult week."

Warnock, whose side bounced back from their loss at Bristol City to remain in the thick of the promotion race, added: "I'm really proud of the lads today after a difficult week, right from the first training session they have focused because we knew we'd be under the cosh.

"I think they're the only club in the league to have had more crosses and shots than us, so that's testament to Dean's (Brentford boss Smith) and our side as we have created chances for supporters to watch.

"I didn't want them to score late on and we managed to get a clean sheet which gives us a good platform to go to Barnsley."