Boss Joe Royle felt the Blues weren't at their best at Cardiff but was glad that his side claimed a vital three points. Tommy Miller netted the winning goal from the penalty spot just after the hour.
Royle said: "During the last 20 minutes or so some of our players switched off and the ball kept coming back at us, but realistically our goalkeeper wasn't kept busy throughout the whole game.
"We were comfortable for most of the 90 minutes and I was disappointed we gave the ball away so often. But we got the three points and that was the most important thing. It was a slightly off-night and I am delighted with the win and the clean sheet.
"As far as we are concerned, we must keep winning, because the other two sides up there with us are doing just that.
"From Cardiff's point of view, whoever can put in a few wins between now and the end of the season will get out of trouble, but it is very tight down there."
Bluebirds' manager Lennie Lawrence was pleased with his side's performance, if not the result: "My overriding emotion is one of disappointment. They are a good side, they had a good spell at the start of the second half, but we kept giving the ball away.
"We forced several good positions and it is disappointing that we failed to capitalise on them after working so hard to stay in the game, and I bet we had as many chances as they did.
"Results haven't gone well for us tonight and it makes Saturday's game against Crewe doubly important and we must definitely win that one.
"We don't let many goals in and the players battled away for the whole game, which they will have to do for the rest of the season if we want to remain in this division."