Form
Cardiff City were relegated from the Championship last season after finishing bottom of the league, five points away from safety. Relegation ended their six-year stay in the second tier, having been relegated from the Premier League in 2019.
However, they are on track to return to the Championship at their first attempt, sitting second in the league and needing up to four points to officially confirm promotion. The Bluebirds can secure at least a second-placed finish if they better Stockport County’s
result against Exeter City, with both games kicking off at 3 o’clock on Saturday.
Their recent form has been mixed though, having seen one win, three draws and one loss in their last five games. They come into this weekend’s game off the back of a 1-1 draw away to Huddersfield Town during the week, with Yousef Salech scoring a 95th-minute equaliser.
The two sides faced each other back in October, with Cardiff claiming a 2-1 home win against the Royals with second-half goals from Omari Kellyman and Salech cancelling out Lewis Wing’s first-half strike.
The boss
Brian Barry-Murphy: Barry-Murphy was appointed Cardiff head coach in June last year, taking over from Aaron Ramsey, who was in a caretaker role following Omer Riza’s sacking.
The Irishman had a 23-year career as a player, representing the likes of Cork, Sheffield Wednesday and Bury, where he made over 200 appearances. He ended his playing career at Rochdale and went onto become caretaker manager of the Dale in 2019 after Keith Hill’s sacking.
Barry-Murphy was given the job on a permanent basis a month later and spent two years in charge before resigning in June 2021 following the club’s relegation to League Two. After Rochdale, he spent time managing the Manchester City Elite Development Squad, before joining Ruud van Nistelrooy’s coaching team at Leicester City.
The 47-year-old has been a real success in his first season at Cardiff, with the side on the cusp of promotion back to the second tier. He has been named League One manager of the month twice, picking up the award in August and December.
Barry-Murphy likes his sides to play attacking football while implementing a strong press.
Squad
Cardiff kept faith in their squad in the winter transfer window with no new players coming through the door.
Captain Calum Chambers will miss this weekend’s game with a wrist injury, while forward Cian Ashford is also likely to miss out. Defender Dylan Lawlor is expected to be fit after coming off with a toe injury in midweek.
Predicted lineup
Trott, Ng, Fish, Lawlor, Bagan, Robertson, Wintle, Tanner, Rubin Colwill, Willock, Salech
Key player
22. Yousef Salech: Forward Salech signed for Cardiff last January from Swedish side IK Sirius for an undisclosed fee.
He started his career in his homeland of Denmark at Hellerup IK, where he made his professional debut before going on to make 27 appearances for the club, scoring seven goals. He secured a move to Brondby in 2021, but found first-team appearances hard to come by, so spent time on loan at HB Koge and Beveren.
Salech moved to Sweden in 2024, joining IK Sirius, where he spent just under a year, scoring 13 goals for the club.
The 24-year-old already has 23 Cardiff goals to his name, with 14 of those coming this season, making him the Bluebirds’ top scorer. Salech is a striker who, standing at 6 foot 5, is strong in the air in both attack and defence.
One to watch
48. Dylan Lawlor: Defender Lawlor is a product of the Cardiff academy who has been with the club since the age of seven.
He made his debut for the Bluebirds last February in an FA Cup tie against Premier League Aston Villa. Lawlor has gone on to make 35 appearances for Cardiff and has two goals to his name.
The Welshman has five caps for his country, making his debut for Wales in a World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan last September.
The 20-year-old is a centre-back who is a composed figure at the heart of the defence and is strong at playing out from the back.
