Tue Sep 19, 2023 10:00 pm
Erol Bulut insists Cardiff City are no one-man team as they down Coventry City without Aaron Ramsey
The Bluebirds recorded a 3-2 win over the Sky Blues on Tuesday night
By Glen Williams
Erol Bulut praised his Cardiff City "fighters" and said the 3-2 win over Coventry City is proof there is talent in the squad beyond talisman Aaron Ramsey.
Ramsey was rested for the Championship clash with the Sky Blues on Tuesday night, with Bulut opting for a three-man midfield of Joe Ralls, Manolis Siopis and Ryan Wintle.
But Cardiff managed to put three past Coventry even without their creator-in-chief and Bulut, who also confirmed Ramsey would be back available for Sunday's game against Sunderland, is pleased that others stepped up when the Wales captain was absent.
"We need all the players. I have 25. All 25 of them I need them until January to fight," he said of the squad effort.
"Ramsey is a great player with a great career, but we showed today, when Ramsey is not on the field, we can replace him with other players. Ramsey can keep the ball better and create more chances, but the other guys who came in showed all the team is important. We have to show we are a team."
It was important for Cardiff to back up their South Wales derby triumph with another win in order to keep that momentum ticking over.
Cardiff could quite feasibly have another six points in the bag if they could have defended better against the likes of Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Leeds United. But with two wins in four days, Bulut hopes his side can keep improving.
"After the game against Swansea, it was a great victory but we cannot celebrate too much because the game today was two days later and we had to work," he added.
"It was hard work against a really good team. They are a really good team. I told my players they had to work really hard and go 100 per cent for 100 minutes.
"We did it really well. Even the substitutions who came on worked really hard to get this three points and we cannot stop. We cannot stop. We have to continue.
"I don't want to think about the points we've lost. Against Leeds, Ipswich, Leicester. We could have taken more points from those games. It would look different. But this is football, we cannot change it and we have to look forward.
"From those mistakes, we have to learn and we are learning."
Both Dimitrios Goutas and Karlan Grant scored their first goals for the club in another added bonus on the night for the Bluebirds.
"Grant is working really hard, "Bulut added. "He has been playing good, only he was missing his goal. Today he made it and I hope he continues scoring like that.
"We have to make it the same with Yakou! Then he will be where we want to see him.
"Goutas, for him it's not easy because it's a different style compared to the Turkish league and the Championship. In Turkey he scored many goals, six I think last season. At set pieces he is good and he showed it.
"He had a moment against Ipswich, too, but he is doing well now and he is building up his game from the back. Sometimes there are nerves, even experienced players get nervous, that's normal, but we have to continue to work on it."