"We have not given them a sniff. Lee cost them a lot of money and Earnshaw may go for a lot. Jason was terrific. He won't be risked on Tuesday but we can't rest too many because we have not got that many players."
Royle also had words of praise for Darren Bent, who was involved in both creating and scoring goals: "He is a bit of an enigma - his pace is exceptional. He scored a goal for us and he had a hand in two. His goal record is terrific - it is one in two which is terrific for a lad still learning the game.
"We are always on at Darren to use his pace more. He has not really got going yet this season - that was his best half so far in the second half. He has now got two in four for us."
Meanwhile Cardiff boss Lennie Lawrence was understandably disappointed with his sides display: "We didn't start too well. I was disappointed with the first goal, although it was a well struck shot.
"We spoke about it at half-time and got a good equalising goal from Alan Lee. We made wrong defensive decisions for their second goal and after that we were chasing the game."