Morison: Bouncing back from Swans defeat & rebuilding Cardiff

Plenty are convinced the Manager of the Month award in the EFL is something of a poisoned chalice.

If Steve Morison didn't believe in curses before, the Cardiff manager may well now, after finding out he was going to pick up the trophy around 48 hours after an historic 4-0 humbling at home by bitter rivals Swansea.

Fortunately, he takes it all in good spirits.

"It was a bit surreal in truth," he tells Sky Sports. "To receive the email on the Monday after the Swansea game was a bit of a strange one.

"But it was for the month of March, which we were excellent in. So obviously I'm really pleased and proud."

It wasn't just the nature of the defeat in isolation that was so tough for Morison, Cardiff and their fans to take. It was also the fact the result - remarkably - sealed the first league double in the 110-year history of the South Wales fixture.

Morison hasn't been at the club for too long, but he has been there long enough to understand the weight of what unfolded.

"It was a horrible weekend for everyone," he continues. "We know it was a tough result to take, particularly for the fans. We know they will never forget it. It was a bad performance and a bad record to lose, but it is what it is.

"We know it wasn't good enough, we know it hurt, but we had to deal with it. We came in on Monday morning, dusted ourselves down and got back to work. Now we have to put it right. We can't stop focusing on being the best we can be because we lost the derby.

"We need to make sure that game was a one-off performance from us. It was a shame, we just have to keep working the way we've been working and doing what we're doing, because up until that game it's been going quite well, which is why I'm still sitting here.

"Now we just have to