Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock praises Burton Albion after Saturday's 1-0 defeat to the Bluebirds

Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock reckons Burton Albion "gave everything" in Saturday's 1-0 loss to the Bluebirds - and said his side deserved it based on their second-half performance.

Former Brewers manager Warnock - who was at the helm of the club or five years in the 1980s - returned to the Pirelli today in the opposition dugout and watched his side snatch a late winner courtesy of Kenneth Zohore's low drive in the 87th minute.

Both sides had their chances, as a cagey game began to open up and both sides started to trade blows in the form of counter-attacks.

Zohore had opportunities to put the Bluebirds ahead, while Marvin Sordell should have scored a first-half opener from close range after Lloyd Dyer's pull-back, with the former Burnley man skewing his effort wide.

But Warnock was pleased he didn't have to return to the Pirelli given its intimate nature - for this season at least - and has dismissed any notion that the Brewers are dead certs for relegation.

The former Rotherham United manager is well qualified to make that assertion, given his miracle survival act while in charge of the Millers - steering Rotherham to Championship survival in the 2015-16 season having been appointed with United languishing in 22nd in the Championship.

And Warnock has issued a warning to the so-called 'big clubs' that will expect three points for simply turning up to the Pirelli.

The likes of Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United fell victim to that mentality, and former Leeds manager Warnock reckons they won't be looking forward to their second visit to the Pirelli.

Given his inside knowledge of the club - Warnock even thought it appropriate to prepare for this game in advance, revealing that pre-season friendly matches were played with this game in mind.

The Pirelli's intimate nature can put off players who are used to playing in much bigger arenas - but the Brewers' home makes fans' frustrations much more prevalent, and this nearly worked in Albion's favour until Zohore's late strike.

And the former Sheffield United boss reckons Brewers boss Nigel Clough can't complain about Albion's effort - something that Clough himself touched upon pre-match, and has become a staple of Clough's Burton sides over the years.

Clough tipped Cardiff as outside bets for a top-six finish in the build-up to the match, and Cardiff's quality eventually shone through against a team that certainly made a game of it.

"Absolutely," Warnock said comprehensively when asked if Albion pushed his Cardiff side to the brink.

"They will everybody.

"People just think its automatic they're going to be relegated.

"But I know anything can happen in this league and anybody can beat anybody.

"I tell you now, teams won't fancy coming here - not in a million years.

"I've been building our lads up all summer, even pre-season I played teams in advance of this game because I wanted us to play tough teams that are going to get in our faces, and they couldn’t have given any more.

"Nigel couldn’t have complained about anything really, because they gave everything today."

Despite Warnock's plaudits for Burton, he emphasised Cardiff's second -half performance and reckoned they deserved all three-points.

The likes of summer signings Loic Damour and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing combined well down the right-hand side late in the second-half, with Stephen Warnock and Lloyd Dyer only able to do so much to nullify the fresh legs Cardiff brought on.

"I thought we deserved it in the second half," Warnock added.

"I just thought in the second half - we talked about changing one or two players - within ten minutes I wanted to change it, alright I left it another five, but I thought the changes were very positive as well really.

"They (Damour and Mendez-Laing) gave us another outlet, but I thought we deserved it in the end."