Cardiff City banking on home record in their latest quest for promotion following defeat of Middlesbrough After so many near misses and too many sob stories to mention, Cardiff are back in the mix and hoping that this season will be different to so many others in the recent past. Connolly is one of the new faces this season and understands what it takes to negotiate the final hurdle. The 25 year-old escaped the clutches of the second flight during his days at Queens Park Rangers. On that occasion, Rangers lost only two matches out of 23 at Loftus Road. We had a lot of wins like this during that season. We would score early and then hold on," said Connolly, whose fourth goal of the season separated the sides in a game that was high on endeavour but devoid of quality. "It's a tough place to come and play," he added. We have certainly built a fortress this season. I have been here and played with QPR and the crowd play their part. I think teams are coming here a bit scared of us. Now we want to win the 10th, 11th and 12th games too. Cardiff's victory was, however, tempered by two more injuries, to experienced defenders Ben Turner and Andrew Taylor. The pair limped off in the first half and will this morning join the queue to see the physiotherapist with Tommy Smith, Kevin McNaughton, Jordon Mutch, Nicky Maynard and Don Cowie. Manager Malky Mackay had to throw on Ben Nugent and Joe Ralls inside the opening 30 minutes and was understandably delighted with the resilience shown by the teenagers. Connolly said: "They were outstanding. Joe isn't even a full-back. All credit to the skipper, Mark Hudson, who helped the youngsters through the game. Hudson was another casualty, but having had six stitches in a head wound, he returned to ensure Cardiff's winning run continued. Scott McDonald, Marvin Emnes and Grant Leadbitter all had chances to snatch at least a point on a day when manager Tony Mowbray was also hampered by injuries to key players. Faris Haroun left before the interval and George Friend departed in the second half with a hamstring pull. Friend said: "I have been feeling as fit as I ever have in my career. Hopefully this will not be too big a setback.