Jay Bothroyd grabbed the only goal of the game as Cardiff maintained their promotion push with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Plymouth.

The visitors looked set to leave Ninian Park with a point following a resolute defensive display, but Bothroyd struck with nine minutes remaining to extend the Bluebirds' unbeaten run to eight league games.

Argyle's misery was compounded by the late dismissal of substitute David McNamee for a crude tackle on Michael Chopra.

Cardiff manager Dave Jones fielded the same starting XI that earned a point against Reading on Boxing Day, although Darcy Blake replaced Miguel Comminges on the substitutes' bench.

In contrast, Paul Sturrock made seven changes to the Plymouth side which secured a 2-0 Coca-Cola Championship victory over Southampton, with Steve MacLean and Rory Fallon among the players to come in.

Cardiff's Wayne Routledge saw an early effort blocked by Krisztian Timar, before Michael Chopra missed the hosts' first clear-cut chance.

Paul Parry's cross picked out the on-loan Sunderland frontman in the area, but Chopra fired his shot wide of Larrieu's left-hand post from 12 yards.

The Bluebirds continued to press forward as the half wore on, but they struggled to create chances despite their territorial advantage.

The visitors then came close to scoring themselves shortly before the half hour mark when Timar rose highest to nod a Jason Puncheon corner towards goal, but Mark Kennedy was in position to hack the ball away.

Jay Bothroyd tested Larrieu with a left-footed shot from the edge of the area and Chopra wasted another chance to open the scoring three minutes before the break as he dragged his shot wide from six yards.

Jamie Mackie responded for Plymouth with a shot which whistled narrowly wide, before Chopra's 25-yard free-kick forced Larrieu into his final action of the opening period.

Argyle started brightly after the interval, with MacLean and Puncheon both seeing shots fly wide inside the opening two minutes of the second half.

Cardiff's Roger Johnson also missed the target with a header from Routledge's corner after 54 minutes, while Chopra and Bothroyd both failed to test Larrieu with their respective long-range efforts.

With Plymouth beginning to represent more of an attacking threat, MacLean crossed for Yoann Folly to head wide shortly after the hour mark.

Bluebirds boss Jones then introduced Peter Whittingham in place of Paul Parry, before MacLean's close range header forced Peter Enckelman into his first meaningful save of the game.

Enckelman was forced into further action to keep out Luke Summerfield's speculative long-range effort, while at the other end Routledge lifted a shot over the bar from 18 yards.

The deadlock was then finally broken in the 81st minute as the ball fell to Bothroyd on the edge of the area and the former England under-21 international coolly placed the ball into the bottom-right corner.

Argyle boss Paul Sturrock reacted to the goal by throwing on Rory Fallon and McNamee for Folly and Mathias Doumbe, but his side were unable to hit back.

Bothroyd almost grabbed a second for Cardiff with one minute of normal time remaining, before McNamee was sent off for hacking down Chopra in injury time.

Teams:

Cardiff Enckelman, McNaughton, Gyepes, Roger Johnson, Kennedy, Parry (Whittingham 62), Rae, Ledley, Routledge, Bothroyd, Chopra.

Subs Not Used: Heaton, Eddie Johnson, McPhail, Blake.

Booked: Roger Johnson.

Goals: Bothroyd 81.

Plymouth Larrieu, Doumbe (McNamee 85), Timar, Seip, Cathcart, Sawyer, Puncheon (Noone 77), Summerfield, Folly (Fallon 83),Mackie, MacLean.

Subs Not Used: Duguid, Paterson.

Sent Off: McNamee (90).

Booked: Mackie.

Att: 19,145

Ref: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).