Fish urges Cardiff to carry home form into away fixtures after 5-1 win over Watford

Will Fish urged Cardiff City to take the form they have shown at Cardiff City Stadium into their away matches after the Bluebirds beat Watford 5-1 in the Championship on Tuesday. The centre-back said reproducing that performance on the road would leave the club in a much better position.

Cardiff remain unbeaten at home in the league but have lost four of their five away games this season. Tuesday's 5-1 victory followed a 3-1 win over Charlton and came amid a campaign in which the club have registered the most shots in the division since returning to the Championship.

Asked whether he felt a convincing win has been coming, Fish said: "Definitely. We play good football at home, and I think we blow teams away at times. "We got the end product right [against Watford], and it meant we scored five goals. "If we can take that into our away performances, I think we will be in a really good place."

Fish also accepted the side have not been as clinical across most matches this season, and he referenced possession and goals. "Everyone is aware of the stats. I think we are highest in possession as well. At the end of the day, you need to score goals and keep clean sheets," added Fish. "As much as stats can be helpful, it's about what happens on the pitch. The amount of goals we score is what really matters."

Fish made his first appearance of the season after recovering from hernia surgery when he replaced Dylan Lawlor at the Cardiff City Stadium; Lawlor, the Wales international, was forced off after 29 minutes clutching his hamstring in what was his second start since returning from injury. Fish said he had effectively missed pre-season and is still working his way back to full fitness. "It's never nice to get injured, especially as we came back for pre-season. In effect, I've not really had a pre-season. I'm almost playing catch-up at the minute," he said. "I feel like I've got a long way to go, but it was nice to get out there on Tuesday night and get some minutes into my legs. "My injury, you can't help that. It is what it is. I got over it, and I feel like I'm in a good place now, and I'm ready to help the team."

Cardiff led 5-0 with five minutes remaining before conceding a late Watford consolation, and Fish admitted frustration at letting the clean sheet slip. "I was disappointed," admitted Fish. "At that stage in the game, of course, we could have done better. We were all hoping for the clean sheet, but it was nice to get three points." The club have yet to keep a clean sheet since winning promotion back to the Championship.

Cardiff face a difficult trip next when they head to second-place Middlesbrough, whose Kim Hellberg's side rank among the best performers for shots on goal and touches in the opposition box. After the Teesside fixture, Cardiff's league programme includes matches against Birmingham and the promoted trio Wolves, West Ham and Burnley.

Fish said his team will approach the coming schedule one match at a time and aims to leave Teesside with a positive result, adding: "The games we have got coming up are tough. Every game of football that you play in this league is tough. We will just take it game by game," he said. "[Watford] was a good start, and hopefully we can pick up another win in Middlesbrough on Saturday." Cardiff head to Middlesbrough on Saturday, October 17 (12:30 BST).