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‘ SEVEN CARDIFF CITY PLAYERS ‘

Mon Jul 31, 2023 11:30 am

Seven Cardiff City players are currently suffering from injuries or slight knocks.


The most concerning injuries relate to captain Joe Ralls and new signing Yakou Meite.

Ralls was taken off early against Porto after complaining of an injury and has not played since.

While Meite missed that game against the Portuguese champions altogether. Meite also struggled last season with injuries.
He has only 45 minutes of football, against Braga, to his name in pre-season, meaning he is a major doubt for this Sunday's clash with Daniel Farke's side.

Mark McGuinness is arguably the most troubling of all, though. Cardiff's defence, especially centrally, looks thin on the ground at the moment. Beyond McGuinness and Dimitrios Goutas, the Bluebirds aren't particularly strong in that area of the pitch, although it must be pointed out that Jack Simpson has had a decent pre-season.


Erol Bulut:

"He had a small kick on his knee in the last game, that's why we didn't want to risk him," Bulut said of the centre-back.

"Also, Joe Ralls, he had a small pain on his leg. We haven't taken them to the game in order for them to not risk a big injury. Yakou, too."

Asked if McGuinness was going to be available for Sunday, Bulut replied: "I think yes."

After enjoying a positive pre-season in that playmaker or second-striker role, it was disheartening to see Rubin Colwill miss the trip to Adams Park on the weekend.

It seemed the 21-year-old had got through pre-season scot free, having struggled for the best part of a year with injuries, but a flare-up has put a speed bump in the way of his preparations for the season.

Bulut, again, is hopeful he will be back this week. "Rubin feels stiffness in his muscle and we didn't want to risk it," the Bluebirds boss said. "Next week, Tuesday, for training, everyone will be included."

Romaine Sawyers is a curious one. Yes, he was away with St Kitts and Nevis on international duty until the start of this month, but that was now four weeks ago.

Sawyers has not featured in any of Bulut's eight pre-season games and looks unlikely to feature on Sunday. When asked whether Sawyers featured in the manager's plans, Bulut cited international duty and a small knock to the knee during his time playing in the Gold Cup.

"He had with the national team. He played until July 3 and we gave him some rest," Bulut said of Sawyers. "He had a small knee injury from the games there, but he will also be at training next week."

It was concerning to see first-choice goalkeeper Ryan Allsop also have to be taken off in an unplanned substitution at Wycombe. The goalkeeper went down early in the second half and had to receive treatment before being substituted for Jak Alwnick.

The severity of Allsop's issue is not yet known. Similarly with Callum Robinson, who appeared to be complaining with a hip or groin issue towards the end of the friendly for Joe Jacobson's testimonial match.
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Re: ‘ SEVEN CARDIFF CITY PLAYERS ‘

Mon Jul 31, 2023 12:12 pm

I think we need another 4 or 5 players before the transfer window closes. If they are going to be loan players then we might be waiting a few more weeks as PL sides assess their squads before opening weekend.

Re: ‘ SEVEN CARDIFF CITY PLAYERS ‘

Mon Jul 31, 2023 9:50 pm

Not good news - this is why we should have done our business in the break and not in those 2 weeks .