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Apologies folks, this is a very short thread for the Bank Holiday game v Sunderland - work and home pressures taking their toll unfortunately.
Friday sees us pick back up after the international break following on from a disappointing defeat in the South Wales derby with the visit of Sunderland.
The Mackems are in extremely poor form having picked up just a single point from their last 6 games but still sit just a place below the Bluebirds thanks to their decent early season form.
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Last time out saw the Bluebirds steal all 3 points at the Stadium of Light with a late goal from Mark McGuinness after Sunderland had been much the better side throughout - a real smash and grab win.
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Ahead of Cardiff City's return from the international break on Friday afternoon, Erol Bulut spoke to the press at CCS.
Erol began by sharing his thoughts on our upcoming opponents, who arrive in South Wales in 12th place in the league table.
“Sunderland are a high-quality, young team who work well," Erol explained. "We have to be fully concentrated tomorrow, and to think only about the three points.
“Now everybody is pushing to be in with their performance, and we have only eight games to play, so everybody knows where we want to be and what we want to push.
"Everybody knows that we take everything game by game, and this will continue. I think that the next three to four games will decide where we will be."
“Many players went for the national games which left us with a small squad, but we took some youngsters with us and had some good sessions.
"The team really worked well in the sessions, which we’re happy with.
“JC has a bit of a problem with his hamstring, so it looks like he won’t be with us on Friday. One or two of the players are a little bit tired from the travelling.
Kion [Etete] is also training with us, but he won’t be ready to start, nor Jak [Alnwick]. We have to be careful, but I don’t think it will be long until he is back.”
OPPOSITION FOCUS | IN THE DUGOUT
Following the departure of Michael Beale in February, Mike Dodds is currently interim head coach of Sunderland.
Since joining the club in 2021 as head of individual player development, this is Dodds’ third spell as interim coach.
He took charge after the departure of Lee Johnson in 2022, as well as following on from Tony Mowbray a year later.
Since Beale left the club last month, the side have drawn one and lost four, with Dodds still searching for the first win of his current spell.
OPPOSITION FOCUS | KEY PLAYER
The Black Cats’ standout player this season has been winger Jack Clarke.
Having joined the club on a permanent deal from Tottenham Hotspur in 2022, he has excelled ever since.
Clarke has 15 goals in the Sky Bet Championship this season, also contributing with four assists.
The winger has missed the last five matches with an ankle ligament injury, but could return to action this weekend.
Let's hope for a good result after what was ultimately a deflating International break and a poor result last time out for our boys.
Bloooooooooooooooooooooobirds!!!
- that's worse than our worse run. Despite that and being 5 points behind us in the table, they've scored more goals than us and also let in less.
Masky