Neil Warnock says Cardiff's "important" win over West Ham on Saturday has dragged other sides back into the relegation battle.
Goals from Junior Hoilett and Victor Camarasa gave the Bluebirds a 2-0 win at the Cardiff City Stadium and although they remain in the bottom three as a result of Southampton's win over Tottenham, Warnock was upbeat about Cardiff's situation.
With 13th-placed Newcastle just six points clear of the relegation places, Warnock insists Cardiff would have gratefully accepted this situation if offered it at the start of the campaign.
"We knew it was important today because it brings everyone else back into the pack as well, they think they're getting away from us," he told Sky Sports.
"It's not just the result, I thought the way we played was excellent today.
"We know we're on catch-up all the time but if you'd have told me that we'd be on 28 points with eight games to go I think we'd have snapped your hand off at the start of the season."
Warnock also argued that the manner of the win showed that reports of discontentment in the Cardiff dressing room after three straight defeats were wide of the mark.
"They did ever so well," he added. "It's been a good week really, training has been the best I've know it for a while.
"They're bound to be flat and there were talks of rifts in the camp and splinters and things like that but you could see there was nothing wrong with the dressing room.
"We played some good stuff at times, should have scored three or four and made it a little bit easier but we couldn't take the opportunities that came our way. Then when we had to defend, we defended really well."