Lennie Lawrence today hailed loan signing Gary O'Neil as the inspiration behind Cardiff's gradual recovery.

Peter Thorne grabbed the headlines with his second-half double against Rotherham on Saturday, but it was the classy performance of Portsmouth midfielder O'Neil which caught the eye of the Welshmen's Brighton-born boss.

O'Neil, the England under-21 captain, showed no signs of fatigue after playing with Albion's Dan Harding in the European Championship qualifiers at home to Wales and in Azerbaijan.

Lawrence said: "Gary is a good player. A lot of clubs were in for him so we had to be decisive when it came to getting him.

"Thorney got two goals and his second header was a great one but, out of all the players, it was Gary's contribution that was the most consistent over 90 minutes."

Lawrence is thinking about approaching Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp about the prospect of taking the talented 21-year-old from Bromley for the rest of the season.

"There is a clause in the agreement saying Portsmouth can recall Gary after the first month," said Lawrence.

"Portsmouth insisted on that clause and the first month is up soon. I sincerely hope they don't recall him and I'm sure Gary feels the same way.

"Because Gary is under 23 we can do a season-long loan with him. It has crossed my mind to do that although I haven't yet discussed it with Portsmouth.

"I don't know if Portsmouth will sell him or not. If they do, I don't think he'll be too cheap!"

Cardiff have taken seven points from the last 12 after only their second home win of the season and first since August.

Lawrence wants the pattern of improvement to continue at Withdean tonight and at Millwall on Saturday.

"If we get no points or one point from the next two games then we're back to square one," he warned.

"We are gradually emerging, but we could easily go back. We've had some horror stories at home but there has been some consistency recently."

Cardiff have a host of internationals in their squad, including central defenders Danny Gabbidon and Tony Vidmar.

Gabbidon played for Wales in the recent World Cup qualifier against England at Old Trafford.

Vidmar, 34, helped City to a clean sheet against Rotherham after returning from a 27,000-mile trip to the Solomon Islands, where he was in World Cup action for Australia.