The Bluebirds trek to Ewood Park and we can expect to see a number of changes to the XI which beat Sunderland at the weekend
Cardiff City are back in cup action on Wednesday and they will want to continue their rich vein of form when they take on Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
It has been a long time since Cardiff enjoyed a cup run, but they do have the squad now to be able to compete on more than one front, should manager Erol Bulut want to change things up. And that’s what supporters are expecting from the manager, given the rigorous nature of the Championship schedule, with fringe players likely to get an outing up in Lancashire.
Make no mistake, as with every season, the cup competitions are secondary to the club’s league campaign and their ambition of getting promoted back up to the Premier League. But even so, these games can often be useful for managers for many reasons such as keeping the ball of momentum rolling and, crucially, casting an eye over players pushing for spots in the league XI.
So, just who needs to put in a good showing to ensure they are still in Bulut’s plans when he is compiling his Championship team? We pick out a few players who will want to send timely reminders to the manager at Ewood Park. To get the latest Bluebirds news sent straight to your inbox, sign up here.
It seems inconceivable that Jonathan Panzo won’t start the game against Blackburn. The centre-back joined on loan from Nottingham Forest on deadline day, having enjoyed a fruitful season with Coventry City last year, one which took them to the play-offs.
He has come in to challenge the established centre-back pairing of Dimitrios Goutas and Mark McGuinness, who have formed an increasingly strong bond in the last 10 days or so. But at some point in the season Panzo is going to be needed as injuries, the schedule and suspensions take their toll, so City need him ready and firing.
He made his debut for the Bluebirds against Ipswich Town and it’s fair to say he had his struggles, but it would be foolish to write him off. This guy has good pedigree, is left-footed and has many qualities that will make him a good addition. It will be interesting to see him put in a full 90, having come to Cardiff a little undercooked having not really undergone a full pre-season at Forest.
Alex Runarsson
Alex Runarsson could be forgiven for thinking he was coming into Cardiff as a No.1. After all, how often do you sign a goalkeeper from Arsenal on loan just to sit on the bench?
The trouble is, Jak Alnwick has rendered himself undroppable thanks to a series of early-season performances which have endeared him to Bluebirds fans to no end. But Runarsson is no slouch. He is an international-standard goalkeeper who has played for one of the biggest clubs in world football in Arsenal.
Indeed, his debut against Birmingham City in the last round of the cup was encouraging – he made one acrobatic save from a Juninho Bacuna free-kick which was truly was remarkable. The Icelandic stopper will want to remind Bulut just why he was brought to the club in the first place and just ratchet up that pressure on the impressive Alnwick.
Callum Robinson
Callum Robinson’s start to the season has been curious. He suffered a back injury while on pre-season in Portugal and despite being named in match-day squads, has been used sparingly.
Clearly he is not right up to full fitness just yet, but one suspects he will be given a chance to start at Ewood Park if he is fit. After all, this was a player who was crucial to Cardiff lifting themselves out of their slump last season and supporters expected him to play a big part in this campaign.
Really, he should be challenging for four positions — striker, No.10, right wing and left wing — and arguably at full fitness he should be starting in one of those roles. The Bluebirds signed him as a striker option, in lieu of anyone else, really, last summer, and he rewarded them with a decent goal haul. Where does Bulut see him? Well, this is an opportunity for us to find out.
Robinson is a player with quality and pedigree in the Championship and Cardiff will need him throughout the course of the season. City supporters want to see his campaign get up and running in earnest with his first start of the season at Ewood Park and, if fit, there is no reason why he won’t be on the team sheet.
Mahlon Romeo
Perry Ng is a top operator and the club’s reigning player of the season, however fans shouldn’t forget that Mahlon Romeo’s debut season in a blue shirt was pretty impressive.
He was signed as one of the 17 last summer and was consistently very good for the Bluebirds throughout the season. Ng has moved from centre-back to right-back under Bulut, though, and is seemingly an immovable object. Romeo played very well in the last round of the cup, though, and is a useful option for the manager.
He is equally adept at attacking and defending and has everything you’d want from a Championship full-back – he is just unfortunate Ng is in front of him. But Romeo is a fighter, a battler, and will want to show Bulut that he’s still about.
Kion Etete
Ike Ugbo appears to be Erol Bulut’s preferred option as the No.9 at the moment, but with Kion Etete hot on his heels, will the manager be tempted to shake it up in the striker department?
Etete had a strong end to last season but, cards on the table, he started this campaign poorly and looked way off it. There have been signs in the last couple of weeks, though, that Etete is just muscling his way back into contention. Bulut revealed they have taken him for extra finishing sessions and that paid dividends when he walloped home his goal against Coventry City last week.
He then followed that up with a positive cameo off the bench at the Stadium of Light on Sunday. The battle for the No.9 shirt is an intriguing one and one suspects Etete cannot be too far away from wrestling a start away from Ugbo.
The forward has two goals in two cup outings — as well as one in the league — and another against Blackburn might just force Bulut’s hand with one eye on Rotherham United at home next Saturday.
Ebou Adams
Ebou Adams appears to have leapfrogged Andy Rinomhota and Romaine Sawyers in the midfield pecking order, but that area of the squad is so congested – how does he get himself in there?