Denis Odoi dropped out of the match day squad for Barnsley late on and is unlikely to be ready for Tuesday. Quite a few took knocks, with McDonald's being quite nasty, but they should all be fine for selection. Colin will be smarting after their defeat to Bolton but had the consolation of being able to give Kenneth Zohore some game time from the bench. We can expect Zohore to start in this one. For us, don't be surprised to see Button returning after Bettnelli's jittery performance on Saturday. Elsewhere, there were great cheers when Piazon warmed up down the side of the pitch and the Gaffer made his intentions well known that he'll use him at some time during the festive period. More likely to be off the bench than starting against Cardiff however. So, just the one change in the opening line up - .............................Button.............. ..Fredericks....Kalas....Ream...Sessegnon.. .........................McDonald...... .................Cairney.......Johansen... ......Ojo..............Kamara.............Ayite....
Hi C58 - the Boxing Day game at ours is a bit of a puzzler. I'm not saying others haven't had their problems, but we've been wracked by injuries to key players. With Ken Zohore, Danny Ward, Aron Gunnarsson, Craig Bryson and Sean Morrison amongst about 11 altogether being out, Warnock has been playing it by ear this past month and got away with it, although at Bolton it all fell apart. We always expect a good game against you and I doubt tomorrow will be any different, but the result could easily go either way. You wont see Gunnarsson nor Ward playing - both out for a couple of months after operations - but if we get a couple of our walking wounded back, particularly Ken Zohore who you mentioned, I fancy our chances of scraping this one.
The man we have today is, Simon 'the Fastest Red in the West' Hooper. please log in to view this image Few will have forgotten, or forgiven, him sending off Tomas Kalas after only 31 seconds in our game against Reading at the Cottage back in August. Referees no doubt do their homework and/or are briefed before matches and Hooper will probably have known about the controversy of the play-off game between the sides just a couple of months previously. So would be keen to make his mark early on. However his speed on the draw on this occasion was astonishing - no 'thinking time' for Hoop; he was so quick getting the red card out he nearly dropped the thing! Perhaps because he had scared even himself, Hoop then let Reading players get away with murder before booking 3 of them within 3 minutes in the middle of the second half. How he then failed to show Moore a second yellow for scything down Kamara as he ran clear remains a mystery. For the record, Hooper has turned out for 22 games so far this season, handing out 71 yellows and 3 reds. PS In that game against Reading, Lucas Piazon came on for Ayite in the 50th minute and scored our equaliser in the 83rd to make it 1-1. Could history repeat itself today?
And how good is this from the lad who always scores against Cardiff - Not a bad for his first touch on the ball from Rui Fonte either !
Good win from the boys and if I'm not mistaken this is Cardiffs first home defeat in the league this season, so its not been an easy place for teams to go this year. Hopefully we can kick on from here now similar to how we did at the back end of last season.
A brilliant win and performance according to GJ and Jamie, even sweeter against Colin eh. We got a mention again at half time, that's Mrs 2 and I, I think that qualifies as regulars now. A grand Christmas so far, COYW's. No coincidence Captain, and I think the gaffer knew this all along, just circumstances at the back have prevented it on a regular basis.
Good win today and good performance. Dominated the midfield and made our possession count for once. Good to see Piazon come on in the last few minutes. There will be much confidence in the side at the moment. Good Christmas so far.
Johansen didn't look like he was carrying an injury for the goal, he left the Cardiff players treading water. (running on adrenaline ?) The old stubbornness came back into Jokanovic after the game speech when talking about Sessegnon, about his defensive capabilities, when a lot of us have been saying he should be played up front. 'He is 17-years-old and at the moment I use him as a left-back,” Jokanović explained. “People are happier when he plays in a more offensive wide position. In the end, it depends on my team, it depends on how I can use my players.I prefer to use Floyd Ayité as a winger.'
That was a good win for you guys and thoroughly deserved. We were second best in most areas of the pitch particularly midfield where you dominated. I like the look of your style and have no doubt you'll take plenty more points from the "fancied" clubs currenlty ahead of you in the table. We were poor but take nothing away from you - I think you'll worry the current top 6 before the end of the season no question.
Cheers Sparkey. Not even the ref could save Colin's blushes but since it's that time of year will return the compliments by saying that Zohore's goal was an absolute corker. If he stays fit you'll still be knocking around there at the end.
That was Zohore's first game since he ripped his Achilles tendon in the middle of October. He has something special in his locker that marks him out. We've done OK without him since then but it was nice to see him back yesterday - he could make all the difference. Our biggest problem is middle of the park. If Warnock gets that sorted we'll stay up there - if not we could struggle with any more performances like against Bolton and you. I will say it again - I like your style. I expect you to trouble whoever is up there at the moment before the end of the season.
