Chris Wilder said Kieffer Moore was "disappointed" with how his time at Cardiff City ended, but the striker admitted he "loved" his time playing for the club.

Moore returned in the red and white stripes of Sheffield United on Saturday and produced two sublime goals to lead the Blades to a 2-0 victory at Cardiff City Stadium.

Moore has been the best striker Cardiff have had in a decade or more and his goals earned him a move to Bournemouth, with whom he achieved promotion to the Premier League.

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There have been a few "will he, won't he?" moments with regards to potential returns to the Welsh capital, with a number of the Wales striker's close friends still living in the area and the fond memories he clearly holds following his goal-laden spell with the Bluebirds.

Last season he opted for a move to promotion-chasing Ipswich Town, whom he helped achieve ascension to the top flight, before he left the Cherries for good in the summer, signing for one of the promotion favourites in Sheffield United. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

Speaking after his two-goal showing at CCS at the weekend, Moore said: "I had a great time here and I loved playing here, I scored a lot of goals here.

"I suppose it's never nice for the home fans when I come back here and still score but I loved my time here."

Moore was booed by supporters throughout the afternoon, the reason for which has baffled some fans. It was claimed at the time that Moore had handed in a transfer request to move to Bournemouth, which might have left a bad taste in fans' mouths, perhaps.

Even so, few could begrudge him wanting to achieve his ambition of playing in the Premier League and he had certainly earned that right after scoring 25 goals in 66 matches for City. Now he is showing his class for the Bramall Lane club, with manager Wilder revealing that the trip to south Wales weighed heavily on Moore's mind ahead of the trip.

"He is a big player for us. I know he was a bit disappointed the way things transpired here when he was here. It was a big day for Kieffer," Wilder said.

"He produced a top-class performance. He leads the line, you can go in to him, if teams press you from goal kicks, you can go into him or go down the side. What should be spoken about is the quality of both of his goals.

"I spoke to him before and asked him if he enjoyed his time here and he said 'yeah'. He scored goals, he was in a difficult situation where he had to make a difficult choice.

"I know it didn't go down as well with him as he would have liked. I don't think any player wants to leave on a sour taste. But it was what it was. I talked to him about it before the game. But he wants to play well all the time. He is a solid 8/10 player and gives everything for the team in both boxes."

From a Wales perspective, it's positive to have the towering striker in good form as they head into a crucial 2025. Wilder added: "He is contributing to a team that's doing well. He's an important member of the squad and he gives us a different outlet and he gives the national team something a little bit different.

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"There's always different ways to win a football match. There was a debate the other night on the TV about game management and we have got that ability to get it to Kieffer and play through him.

"He has been fabulous since the day he walked through the door. If he can contribute like he has done for the national team to our second part of the season."

Moore hopes that Wales target automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup after it was revealed that they will be in qualifying Group J alongside Belgium, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein.

"It's [the draw] very positive... it's not going to be easy but one that we can see, if we play the brand of football we know we can play we can top that group," Moore said.

"It will be difficult but we will give our all as we always do."

Winning the Nations League Group B4 means Wales are almost guaranteed a least a play-off spot in the race to reach the 2026 World Cup - although Moore insists the national team cannot be thinking about that potential safety net.

"I don't think you want to use that for you in that way, because if you know there's a way out then you don't really apply yourself maybe the way you should," he added.

"Obviously it's nice we do have that but that shouldn't be on our minds, qualification straight away should be on our minds and finishing top of the group."