Town Visit Cardiff Chasing Fourth Away Win of Season Monday, 30th Oct 2017 19:15 Town visit third-placed Cardiff City on Tuesday evening looking for their fourth Championship away win of the season, all three of their previous victories on their travels having been achieved after falling behind. The Blues, who are 10th, two points off the play-offs, came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Barnsley in August, then a few days later won 4-3 at Millwall after going behind in the opening seconds of a topsy-turvy clash against the Lions. Town, who have lost their other three games on the road, again staged an away turnaround on Saturday as Bersant Celina’s fabulous 89th minute freekick defeated Burton 2-1, a victory which manager Mick McCarthy admits was much required. “We needed a result, we’d had three defeats and none of us wanted that,” he said. “I’ve looked at the stats this morning and although we didn’t play particularly well, they had 13 balls in our box in the first half and we had two in theirs. “In the second half we had 13 in their box and they had three in ours, so the wind and the weather [had an impact], it was a difficult day to play any sort of football. “It was interesting actually, I’ve had a conversation with Santie this morning, Bersant, and I asked him if he thought it would have been a good game for him on Saturday and he said no. He’d have been kicked from pillar to post, he’d never have seen it unless he could head it. “And that’s the way it turned out to be. The Burton chairman came and said hello and said, ‘Three lucky points’ and I said, ‘Yes, they were’. “But I don’t really agree with that, you’ve got to keep the ball out of the net and for all their possession and for all their pressure and all their crosses in the box, I had a team that kept it out of our net. “And while we weren’t able to play any football really, when it turned around we played much better and we had the pressure, we had the ball in their box and we scored two good goals. That’s not luck, that’s a team that’s got good spirit, good fighting spirit, good qualities and at the end two goals.” McCarthy believes that spirit which has seen his side to those comebacks is invaluable: “It’s a vitally important ingredient that a lot of good teams who have spent a lot of money would give a lot of money to have that. And I really appreciate that the lads have got it and respect it. “We’re not going to be the best footballing team in the league but if we continue to do all those things we’ll get points and who knows where it’ll take us. “But we did have good quality as well, at the end of it we’ve had two really good bits of quality.” He added ruefully: “It got us to the top six when it was ‘Super Mick’. How times have changed, eh? “All I ask is that the players give me everything. If that relationship ever changes then a manager or a coach is in trouble. “But that’s never happened anywhere I’ve been, any job I’ve had. And I don’t anticipate that happening here. “And while they give everything like they have done and certainly did on Saturday, I’ll take that.” Town are without a draw in 20 Championship games, including their first 13 league matches from the start of this season. If Tuesday’s match ends with either side winning that will match a club record of 14 from the start of a season achieved at the beginning of the 1954/55 campaign. The Blues overall longest run of league matches without a draw is 26 games achieved in 1950/51 and 1947/48. This season’s draw-less start in stark contrast to last season when Town drew 16 times, too many matches for McCarthy’s liking. “We drew too many games last year, thankfully this year we’re winning them. We don’t want to continue losing them like we were but I’ll still take the wins.” The Blues could end Tuesday in the play-off zone if they win and results elsewhere go their way.
The Town boss believes there is more to come from his side with Emyr Huws perhaps in the squad for the first time for Saturday's home game with Preston having overcome his achilles injury, while Tom Adeyemi, like Huws a former Bluebird, having had his involvement limited by the illness which struck down a several players in pre-season and then a series of nagging injuries, most recently a hamstring problem. “I hope so and I think so,” McCarthy said. “We’ve had a lot of injuries at the start of the season, injuries we’ve had to Tom Adeyemi and Emyr Huws have made a huge difference to it, and that’s not knocking the lads who have been playing. “We saw Tristan Nydam on Saturday, it was such a tough game for him. It almost passed him by, the ball was in the air, he was getting bashed all over, but he’s been brilliant and will be for the club. But it would have been different with a bit more stature and experience in there. “Even Kevin Bru just going on settled it down a bit with his ability to get on the ball. I would hope so, I would hope we can get better.” The Blues manager says Cardiff’s impressive start, they were the early season leaders before dropping back a little more recently, is no surprise to him given their manager, his one-time Barnsley team-mate Neil Warnock, and the players at his disposal. “Not at all. We saw what Kenneth Zohore could do [when we lost 3-1 there] last year,” he continued. “Neil’s made good signings in terms of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Junior Hoilett, they’ve got a good front three. He signed Danny Ward from Rotherham, who we were interested in.
“Were we out-priced? No, Neil had the advantage because he’d managed him [at Rotherham], so it wasn’t a case of being out-priced, Danny wanted to go to Cardiff with Neil. “His back four, Sean Morrison was signed for a chunk of money and Sol Bamba’s done great for him. He has got a good squad of players but other people have got good squads of players but don’t manage to get out of them what Neil does. “Love him or loathe him, I guess that’s a bit like me, he continues to get the best out of people.” Asked to outline Warnock’s greatest strengths, he responded: “He simplifies it, certainly. The game has not changed since I was playing with him in Barnsley’s reserves. There might be certain aspects of it that are different but fundamentally it’s not changed. “He obviously is a good man manager, he gets the best out of people. He’s tactically aware, astute and he can change it depending on how the game is going. “He’s been in the game a long time and he’s made some good signings. His recruitment has been good as well. “We’re very similar, certainly in terms of our management style. If somebody wants to compare me with him I’ll take it as a compliment.” Bartosz Bialkowski will continue in goal for Town, who will probably stick with a four-man backline. Skipper Luke Chambers and Adam Webster will be the centre-halves with McCarthy believing the former Portsmouth man is getting back to the top of his game after his ankle injury problems stretching back to January. “He’s been out for a long time, Adam, so it’s understandable that he’s not just going to come back and play as he was when he came in and was fully fit,” he said. “He’s fully fit now, but it does take a while to get back into it, and as we all know they’re not easy games.” He added: “I think we saw [his quality] when he came in and we saw it at Portsmouth, albeit playing in League Two, and there’s a big difference, but when he came here he stepped up and he looked a really cultured player. “He’s just having to find his feet now, making sure he’s doing his defensive work and just getting through games at the moment. His confidence will come and he’ll start to show what he can do. I’ve no doubt, but he just needs games.” McCarthy may opt to switch Jordan Spence for Dominic Iorfa at right-back, while Jonas Knudsen is set to be on the left. In midfield, McCarthy could give Kevin Bru his first start of the season, having been impressed with the Mauritius international’s display from the bench on Saturday, alongside Cole Skuse in a central pairing. The Blues boss may opt to start with his 4-2-3-1 system but may look to switch some of his personnel with Town having three games in eight days. David McGoldrick could be one to be rested, while Bersant Celina and Grant Ward will be among those hoping to start. Seven-goal top scorer Martyn Waghorn would appear to be a certain starter, while Freddie Sears could also again be in the XI, while Joe Garner will be the lone out-and-out striker if McCarthy starts with that formation. Cardiff, who are expected to return to a back four after a surprise move to a three-man backline during the 0-0 weekend home draw with Millwall, which was widely viewed as unsuccessful despite the clean sheet, could again be without striker Zohore and midfielder Aron Gunnarsson due to ankle injuries. Left-back Joe Bennett misses out having been taken off during the first half of the Millwall match with a tight calf. Another full-back, Jazz Richards (ankle), and keeper Lee Camp (thigh) remain sidelined. Town have the upper hand historically, winning 21 (19 in the league), drawing 14 (14) and losing 14 (13). The teams last met at the Cardiff City Stadium in March when Town dropped to 17th in the Championship, only five points from the relegation zone after the Bluebirds came from behind to beat them 3-1. Skipper Chambers headed the Blues into a 23rd minute lead but Zohore equalised for Cardiff on 36, then put the home side in front five minutes after the break before Bennett added the third in the 63rd minute with Town never looking like they would get back in it. In December at Portman Road, Luke Varney netted an equaliser just after half-time as Town drew 1-1 with the Bluebirds, who had central defender Bamba sent off for abuse towards the fourth official during a bizarre second-half temper tantrum. Gunnarsson put the visitors ahead following a Bialkowski error in the 38th minute, Varney levelled on 52 but despite the one-man advantage the Blues were unable to find a winner. Former Town keeper Brian Murphy joined Cardiff in the summer of 2016 having been released by Portsmouth and has made four appearances for the Bluebirds. Murphy was with the Blues between January 2010 and the summer of 2011 making 25 appearances. One-time Town loanee Liam Feeney is on loan with Cardiff from Blackburn. The 31-year-old made seven starts and two sub appearances, scoring once, towards the end of the 2015/16 campaign. Cardiff midfielder Stuart O’Keefe, who is currently on loan with Portsmouth, was an academy schoolboy with Town, while the Bluebirds’ Icelandic midfielder Gunnarsson had a trial with the Blues' youth set-up when also a schoolboy. Huws joined Town from Cardiff in the summer following his successful loan spell at the end of last season having made only two starts and two sub appearances in one season with the Bluebirds. Adeyemi was with the Welshmen between August 2014 and his release last summer but made only 13 starts and 10 sub appearances, scoring one goal. Tuesday’s referee is Oliver Langford from the West Midlands, who has shown 48 yellow cards and two red in 16 games so far this season. Langford was in charge of the 2-0 home victory over Brentford in August in which he booked Myles Kenlock and two Bees. Prior to that he refereed the 2-1 win at Burton at Easter in which he cautioned only Sears. He also refereed the 1-1 East Anglian derby draw at Carrow Road in February in which he again yellow-carded Sears as well as Spence. Before that he was the man in the middle for the 2-0 home defeat to Fulham on Boxing Day in which he booked Tom Lawrence, McGoldrick and one Cottager. Langford also took control of the 2-0 home victory over Burton Albion last October in which he cautioned Skuse and two Brewers. Before that he refereed the 0-0 home draw with Charlton in April last year, in which he yellow-carded Knudsen and two Addicks, and the 2-1 home defeat to Leicester in November 2013, in which he booked only Chambers. The only other Town game he has officiated in was the 2-0 defeat at Leeds in April of the same year when David Norris, by then with the Whites, was the only player cautioned. Probable squad: Bialkowski, Gerken, Spence, Iorfa, Connolly, Knudsen, Kenlock, Chambers, Webster, T Smith, Skuse, Bru, Nydam, Downes, Ward, Celina, Rowe, Garner, Sears, McGoldrick, Waghorn.
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