That old cup cliche....

Fair play to Cardiff - and of course in particular Dave Jones - for flying the Championship flag all the way through to next month's FA Cup Final.

Whatever the divided opinions on Jones' Molineux tenure, he still masterminded one of the momentous days in the club's history on that glorious play-off winning afternoon in Cardiff.

And should the Welshmen prevail over Portsmouth on their latest visit to Wembley, Wolves - and Chasetown for that matter - will both be able to say they exited this year's competition to the eventual winners!

Indeed Chasetown remain the only team to take the lead against Jones's boyos in the cup thus far!

Anyway, back to the subject.

While no one would ever begrudge Cardiff their afternoon in the sun - and rest assured there'll be green and envious eyes cast from 23 other Championship clubs on May 17 - it's worth noting too how Wolves' fortunes have improved since that dreadful February Fifth Round capitulation at Ninian Park.

When the crestfallen players were roundly barracked by their own fans in the wake of such a miserable 2-0 defeat, Wolves and Cardiff remained locked together in the Championship's mid-reaches with 44 points from 32 games.

And now?

Wolves, having taken 17 from their last eight, are on 61 and Cardiff - with 12 from the similar period - on 56.

Mick McCarthy's team have shown some real character and determination to pick things up which has given them every chance of making the play-offs as Cardiff pursue a slice of FA Cup history.

It's also very similar to last season.

January's harrowing FA Cup humilation at the hands of Albion proved the prelude to a sequence of six wins from seven which also re-ignited Wolves' season.

This latest resurgence may or may not be enough to secure a second crack at the play-offs in successive seasons.

But once again it shows the old "concentrate on the league" mantra in the wake of cup disappointment may not be just a tired cliche after all.