Tom Cairney has talked up the significance of Fulham's 1-0 win over Reading, but insists that promotion to the Premier League is still a big ask.

The Cottagers maintained their impressive form on Tuesday night by grinding out a narrow victory at Craven Cottage, courtesy of Stefan Johansen's 25th-minute goal.

Cardiff lost to Aston Villa by the same scoreline, meanwhile, making it one point from the last nine on offer to blow the race for automatic promotion wide open.

Unbeaten in their last 20 matches, Fulham are now into second place and looking to hold on in the remaining weeks, although City still have a game in hand at Derby County to come in a fortnight.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Cairney said: "It is huge moving into the top two. Mentally it is big but we have not done anything yet and it is still in Cardiff's hands because they have a game in hand. All we can do is keep putting on the pressure and that is what we've done.

"We still see ourselves as the team chasing. We are above them at the minute but it is in their hands. We have to carry on winning. We have four games to see what our destiny is. We will go to win all four. If we do that then Cardiff are under serious pressure."

"Nothing changes for us. We are proud of the run we are on. Are we confident we will go up? We are confident we can win games. If it was in our hands I might have a more positive answer but it is not at the minute.

"But momentum is huge in this league. You could say we have had it for a few months but you have got to keep it and perform every week. To be 20 games unbeaten is something special. I do not know how Cardiff are feeling. We are just concentrating on ourselves."

Cardiff have the chance to move back into second place when travelling to Norwich City on Saturday afternoon, shortly before Fulham face Brentford in a West London derby.