Cardiff duo Aron Gunnarsson and Jamie Ward returned to action by playing for their international teams.

Both have been largely unavailable for the past few months, but that has done little to stop Neil Warnock's side.

Gunnarsson played 46 minutes for Iceland against Mexico and Ward played 62 minutes for Northern Ireland against South Korea, according to Inside Wales Sport.

They are likely to play key roles in the final run-in as Warnock will aim to get the maximum from his squad and is likely to rotate in order to keep the players fresh.

The Bluebirds do have a significant gap on Fulham in third, but a few bad results could change all that so they can't afford to get complacent.

This is another boost for a team that has got momentum behind it caused by seven straight wins and nine games unbeaten.

The Verdict

The absence of these players shows how effective Warnock is at working around issues in his squad. Gunnarsson was intended to play a key role in central midfield prior to his injury, but Marko Grujic was brought in on loan from Liverpool and has replaced him effectively.

It also shows how much Warnock adapts his setup to the players available because he was utilising a 4-4-1-1 formation in Gunnarsson's last game. However, he has shifted to using a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 since then depending on the personnel available.

Critics may say that his reactive approach is stuck in the past, but he is certainly producing results at this level even if he isn't able to replicate that in the Premier League.

Warnock is sure to use the return of these players as competition for places in the first-team in order to keep his team mentally focused.