Cardiff City cannot get complacent in their bid to find comfort in the Championship, and have been warned they could be in for a shock if they do.

Promoted from League One, the Bluebirds have not looked out of place in their first season back in the second tier.

They have caught the eye with their brand of football, sticking to the style that brought them success with a young side last term, and have not been without some impressive results.

But they have also not been able to drag themselves away from the bottom end of the table, with Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Wolves keeping Brian Barry-Murphy's side in 18th.

"It was an all-round lacklustre performance," said former Cardiff and Wales striker Nathan Blake after the beating at Molineux, the Bluebirds' first in four games.

"You could say they had one or two opportunities in the second half, but Cardiff didn't deserve anything from the game.

"The performance level was poor. Wolves didn't get out of second gear."

Defeat in the Black Country left Cardiff with just two points from seven games on the road this season. Only Watford and Preston have returned fewer.

"They will have to turn it around pretty quickly because the pressure will come at home," Blake added to BBC Radio Wales Sport.

"If they're drawing or don't pick up wins, then all of a sudden you're back in a relegation battle.

"I don't think it will happen – they play too good [a brand of] football – but I don't want to be complacent and say it won't happen."

Just to underline the point, Cardiff have fewer points (14) than they did after 13 games when they were relegated from the Championship two terms ago (15).

And yet, that seems out of keeping with a side that has convinced many they should not really be looking over their shoulders.

Their form at Cardiff City Stadium, where they have won the past three outings, is doing some heavy lifting.

"They play such good football that often the performance is what you're left with in terms of positivity. Sooner or later they'll give somebody a hiding or go on a run," said Blake.

"The manager will have to really gee the players up for the next game because those sort of performances weren't acceptable.

"Playing like that, you're not going to come home with many points."

Fortunately, Cardiff's next two fixtures before the international break are at Cardiff City Stadium, with West Ham to come on Wednesday, 4 November (19:45 GMT) before they host strugglers Burnley.

Whoever the opponent, the Bluebirds still have work to do in both boxes before anyone can relax.

Defensive frailties are apparent

Cardiff's issues at the back were exposed early at Molineux, as they shipped two goals within 15 minutes, with Wolves hardly breaking a sweat.

The visitors had – and continue to have – genuine injury issues at the back, which Barry-Murphy loathed to criticise too harshly, but even he knew it was not good enough.

"All three goals from our point of view were very disappointing and very soft," he said.

"We came here – despite Wolves' reputation and where they've come from – to win the game, but we defended the box really poorly in those situations.

"If you give teams like this the ball in the areas we did, then you are vulnerable.

"It's an insight for us what we have to do against teams of this calibre to give ourselves a chance to win the game."

They should not need a 3-0 beating to be aware of such simple things as tracking runners, but it is worth noting there were two divisions between the sides last season.

And – according to the statistics at least – Barry-Murphy's charges gave as good as they got.

As they have done in many games this season, they bossed possession and got shots away.

In fact, Cardiff had more shots on target (nine) than their three-goal hosts (four) and - based on xG - deserved at least one goal to have made the contest interesting.

But then, Cardiff are not afraid of shooting. Only Middlesbrough and West Ham have had more shots this season.

Barry-Murphy suggested his side should have worked Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa more often, but Blake was less than convinced by a game already lost by defensive frailties.

"Wolves were only five or six out of ten, they weren't brilliant," said Blake, a man who won promotion to the Premier League in Old Gold.

"They just weren't challenged to step up a gear, so you don't know if they had another level in the bag. The goals were just too easy.

"Cardiff had a massive contingent of away fans, but it was probably the quietest I've ever heard two and a half thousand fans in my life.

"They were waiting for the team to give them something - but through the 90 minutes Cardiff didn't deliver."

Cardiff will have the chance again on Wednesday as they look to find a bit more home comfort in the Championship before any concern starts to grow.