City goalkeeper Jak Alnwick spoke with the press ahead of our upcoming Sky Bet Championship clash with Derby County.
Jak has been a crucial part of City's side this term, starting in 24 of our 28 league games this term.
"It’s been a better start," said Jak when discussing our start to the year. "We went through a bad run, but this year it has been great and it is something we’re looking to build on.
"Our recent form shows the characters we’ve got in the dressing room. Yousef [Salech] is new in and he ends up scoring the equaliser the other night. But it wasn’t just that. He missed a chance and immediately went and got it. It wasn’t a hands on head, head down, feeling sorry for himself. He missed the chance, ran and got the ball. Got the game restarted and you could almost see he was already thinking about the next chance.
"That’s the mentality we want in this group. We’ve got that good base now and the quality will shine through."
Alnwick has taken on the captain's armband when called upon this term.
"I take a lot of pride in that when it happens," said Jak. "I'd rather have Rallsy leading us out, of course. He's one of the best captains I've played under.
"Some of the stuff that people don't see, his standards drive the lads. When I do wear the armband, I've tried to learn and take from what he does."
Jak was between the sticks last Saturday when the Bluebirds defeated local rivals, Swansea City, 3-0 at Cardiff City Stadium.
He continued: "It was brilliant. Everything around it, including us needing the points as well. The atmosphere the fans created was hostile for them. It kicked us onto another level in the second half and it ended up being a comfortable win.
"We always say, we have to create our own energy. Whether there is 30,000 in a stadium or 3,000. We have to create the atmosphere on the pitch ourselves, and then generally when we do that the fans come with us.
"Sometimes the fans will start it as well and it'll get us going too. Football is about that. You have to give the fans something to cheer about and get off their seats - whether it’s a tackle, or a chance. We need to keep the energy levels up, keep the intensity to our game and the fans will come with us."
This Saturday it is back to CCS for the visit of Derby County, who sit one place and one point below the Bluebirds in the table.
Jak concluded: "This game is massive but whether we're playing Derby or Leeds the week after, we're going in with the same mentality. Their [Derby County] form has dropped a bit. It's such a crazy league but we have to focus on ourselves and bring what we bring.
"Everyone will say it's a six pointer. We're looking at it as Derby County at home and we want to win a game of football. We're going to go in with the same style and focus on us. We want to win Derby at home, then Leeds away. Hopefully we can get the fans behind us from minute one and get the three points."