Solskjaer’s seal of approval for Daehli
Daehli proved the Welsh club’s most creative player in a 1-1 draw against Stoke that ensured Cardiff retained a fighting chance of avoiding relegation.
“He is proving time and time again he is worth a place in the team,” Solskjaer said of the 19-year-old, who joined Cardiff during the January transfer window this season.
“He gets you on the edge of your seat, he does things, the difficult things at times, and he is fantastic at just playing simple when that is required.
“He’s a good footballer, and I think he has done fantastic since he has come here.”
For all Daehli’s excellence, though, Cardiff were again left indebted to goalkeeper David Marshall as their saviour. Marshall, came to Cardiff’s rescue with a brilliant late save to deny Stoke substitute Oussama Assaidi a probable winner.
“The first 75-80 minutes I thought we deserved more than a draw,” Solskjaer added. “Towards the end, though, you might say we didn’t deserve anything. We have a top, top goalkeeper and he saved a point for us. We thank him again.
“He has just signed a (new) contract, and we are going to make sure he doesn’t have the option of going down. We have three games to rescue the season.”
Cardiff have three games left in the quest to avoid a quickfire Championship return – away to Sunderland and Newcastle, then at home against Chelsea.
CARDIFF: Marshall, Theophile-Catherine, Caulker, Cala, Da Silva (John 84), Medel, Kim (Zaha 60), Mutch, Whittingham, Daehli (Jones 81),Campbell.
STOKE: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters (Muniesa 29), Nzonzi, Whelan, Ireland (Walters 85), Odemwingie, Arnautovic (Assaidi 78), Crouch.
Referee: Howard Webb (England).
