Cardiff City boss Sabri Lamouchi has hailed match-winner Cedric Kipre as a 'monster' following the defender's dramatic winner against Rotherham United, and has suggested the club will look into potentially keeping him next season.
Kipre popped up in the dying minutes to smash home a dramatic late winner for the Bluebirds at the New York Stadium, handing Lamouchi's men three precious points, putting them on the brink of Championship safety.
The West Bromwich Albion loanee was sensational at both ends of the pitch for Cardiff, who had previously seen Kion Etete's opener cancelled out by Chiedozie Ogbene, before Sory Kaba rattled a penalty against the woodwork.
The result leaves them six points clear of the dropzone with two games to spare, and the raucous celebrations at full time, and in the dressing room after, pointed to the significance of the victory.
Asked specifically about the Kipre's impact, Lamouchi said: "He needs to believe more in himself because he's an animal. He's a very strong defender. He scored an important goal against Watford and scored very important other goals for us. He has a big impact.
"But as you know, Kaba is another one with the same impact. Even if he missed the penalty, he still has a big impact on the opponent.
"These two players are on loan and they will go back to their clubs. We will see what happens now. We will discuss with them, but obviously they are happy with us and we are happy with them."
It comes after Lamouchi suggested top scorer Kaba would be interested in staying at the club next season, although the future of both players still appears uncertain.
Indeed, the future of Lamouchi himself appears unresolved, and he was in no mood to entertain talk of what might happen next with survival now more or less assured, preferring to instead bathe in the relief and euphoria of what was a sensational victory in south Yorkshire.
"My mission was to stay in the Championship," he said. "So it's not done, but I'm happy with the result and confident with the next two.
"Today my only desire is to win the next game at home for our magic fans. They were nearly a thousand today. They'll come back at 3am in the morning for sure. So I will like to finish the season at home with a win.
"This season for them and for us, there's been a lot of frustration and disappointment. We've suffered a lot."
Cardiff are back in action on Sunday, where they will take on Neil Warnock's Huddersfield Town at Cardiff City Stadium.
