'Cardiff are a band of brothers,' says Junior Hoilett after rebutting rumours of a rift

Junior Hoilett insists Cardiff City’s band of brothers are united in their battle to overcome the odds and prolong their stay in the Premier League.

Rumours of a rift in the camp after three successive defeats were dispelled as Cardiff raced out of the blocks at the start of each half to punish a West Ham side seemingly lacking in motivation.

Hoilett opened the scoring with a cute finish after four minutes, and he believes their ability to clinch three points shows they are all fighting together to beat the drop.

“After the week we had, after three defeats, we had to be positive and be hard to beat, as well as go forward and create more chances,” said the Canada international. “We showed that today and we will take the result.

“Everybody is like brothers in that dressing room. You saw last season how we fought for each other. We have been like that all season as well. You can see today how we went out there and fought for each other, we ran every inch on the pitch. It was positive and we just have to stay that way.” 

West Ham failed to match Cardiff’s desperate passion as they slipped to a fourth straight defeat away from home.

Their fate was sealed seven minutes into the second period when Ryan Fredericks inadvertently handed possession back to Hoilett, who shimmied away from the full-back and stood up a cross to the back post. Josh Murphy cushioned a header across goal for Victor Camarasa to squeeze past Lukasz Fabianski to seal all three points.

Southampton’s comeback triumph over Spurs keeps Cardiff two points adrift of safety with eight matches to come.

“I didn’t think we were adrift before the game,” added Hoilett. “We just had a few bad results and we had to be positive and take that for the rest of the season.

“We have to be positive and win games now. We showed that today. We have to keep going, keep working, and I am sure everything will work out.” 

While Cardiff displayed their united front, West Ham found their dressing-room harmony questioned after striker Andy Carroll was left out of the squad again.

Manuel Pellegrini attempted to quash rumours that the £90,000-a-week striker had gone Awol, instead saying he had an ankle issue.

Goalkeeper Fabianski admitted West Ham had relaxed without the threat of relegation. But he challenged his team-mates not to slip into mid-table obscurity when a faint hope of European football was still alive.

“Maybe being in the comfort zone, being in a good position, being safe, relaxes you a bit,” he said. “But then again, the manager is very demanding. He wants us to keep pushing. We have to listen to him and react to his words and to his expectations every single day.”