Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay admires derby-day hero Steven Caulker for opting to move from Tottenham to further his career.
The England international defender scored the only goal of the game on Sunday as Cardiff prevailed 1-0 against Swansea City in the first South Wales derby to take place in the top flight.
Caulker rose highest to nod home Craig Bellamy s corner in the 62nd minute, but there were no wild celebrations from the 21-year-old out of respect for a club that he spent a season on loan with in 2011-12.
Mackay has praised Caulker for deciding to leave London club Tottenham in July in search of regular first-team football at Cardiff, who are 12th in the Premier League following victory over Swansea.
I couldn t believe we actually got him, not for the price (believed to be around £8million) we ended up paying, he said.
He was very brave to step out of Spurs and walk away from being a squad player and coming over and, with respect to us, dropping down to us.
But I think he did it knowing that it was with the best intentions for his football career and not his pocket, and I think that gives him great credit.
It s for the good of his career and his England future, and I think he will have a long one, that he s here now and he s captain at 21 or 22 years old and playing regularly at a high level to a high standard.
We knew we had done our homework on him and we were able to go and deal with (Tottenham chairman) Daniel Levy in such a good fashion, who was excellent to deal with, and we knew it was going to be a good signing for us.
