Team News
Cardiff’s Mark Hudson and Rudy Gestede could return to contention after recovering from hamstring injuries.
For Blues, Stephen Carr and Liam Ridgewell face late fitness tests.
Last Meeting
Blues snatched a 1-1 draw with Cardiff in the last meeting thanks to a Lee Bowyer goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time. This will be our first visit to the Cardiff City stadium.
Recent Form
Cardiff sit third after winning four and drawing two of their last six in the league. At home they have lost only once.
Blues have won two and drawn three of their last six. They have a good record against Cardiff though, with the last defeat being in 2006.
Outlook
So I’m still getting over how things went horribly wrong in the last twenty minutes of the games on Wednesday but now it’s back to the league. I feel that the turnaround in Maribor has made it very unlikely that we will qualify for the next stage so it’s time to concentrate on getting back into the top six. This will be the first of two away games in three days against sides ahead of us as we play our rearranged game against Hull on Wednesday. We are likely to be in the bottom half by the time we kick off tomorrow but two good results will have us leap up the table.
While we can curse our luck in the Europa League, we did suffer from the same problem we have had in recent weeks; which is taking our chances. We could have had the game sewn up after twenty minutes which would have made Maribor’s collapse irrelevant and you can say the same for other recent games. Cardiff won’t allow us to get away with poor finishing. They are having another good season in that they are sitting third but then I think they are always in the top three in December but fade towards the end of the season. They have always competed but never enough to make the top two. This season will be no different as it looks like Southampton and West Ham already have the top two sewn up. They had a good result in the Carling Cup in midweek and may find that a distraction, especially as they have a good chance of getting to Wembley.
Playing on Wednesday will hopefully mean less of a hangover from the trip to Portugal and I expect Chris Hughton to return to 4-4-2 after the experiment with Wade Elliott against Blackpool. Despite his penalty miss, Nikola Zigic seems to be improving so should probably keep his place. I expect him to leave in January so we should use him while we can. I’d be tempted to give Jean Beausejour a rest and give N’Daw another chance in midfield. Even if Ridgewell is fit it might be an option to play David Murphy on the left as he does provide good service. On the other side hopefully Chris Burke will be in the mood to show Cardiff what they are missing.
I think this will be tough and a point wouldn’t be that bad a result.
Cardiff 1-1 Blues
C’mon you Blue boys!
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