Bothroyd joined Cardiff from Wolves in August 2008 for around �300,000

Striker Jay Bothroyd says Cardiff City have made up for last year's end-of-season collapse by claiming a place in this year's Championship play-offs.

The Bluebirds missed out on a top-six finish by a goal 12 months ago after failing to win their last four games.

But Saturday's 1-0 win at Queens Park Rangers ensured there would be no such repeat with two games to spare.

"It means a lot, especially after last season - we've got over that sickening feeling of losing out," said Bothroyd.

"We've put things right this season. Obviously the job isn't finished because we want to go all the way.

"But we're officially in the play-offs now and hopefully we can push on now and get all the points we can.

"This year we've worked really hard, concentrated for 90 minutes of every game and we scored goals and put in good performances."

606: DEBATE After the financial worries, the pressure of Dave Jones, the lack of team players, the injuries and all that is to come, we're finally in the play offs gareth matthews

It is the first time Cardiff have claimed a place in the play-offs since winning promotion to the Championship in 2003.

They head into the end-of-season lottery on their best run of the season and are unbeaten in nine, winning six of them.

Off the pitch though, the Bluebirds have endured a torrid season.

They are due at the High Court on 5 May, three days after the end of the regular season, where they face a winding up order over an unpaid tax bill of £1.9m owed to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.

The club's financial problems could have threatened to derail their play-off push as manager Dave Jones has not been able to bring in any new players, and at one point, his squad was down to the bare bones due to injuries.

But Cardiff have battled through and now join Nottingham Forest who secured their play-off place a week a go.

Leicester will join them this weekend if they beat Preston at Deepdale, while Swansea will also seal their place with a win at Sheffield United and Blackpool fail to beat Peterborough.

"It's a really good feeling... with our form going into the play-offs we're really looking forward to it," added Bothroyd, who has scored 11 goals for the Bluebirds this season.

"There are three good teams trying to get in the play-offs, but we're happy we're in there and whoever we play, I'm sure they won't want to play us.

"The last few games have been really tight - maybe not the best performances, but we've got the points and that's the main thing.

"It's about getting the points on the board and getting in the play-offs and we're happy to be there.

"But we're not taking our foot off the pedal. We still want to push on and see where we can finish."

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