Form
Cardiff City were relegated from the Championship last season after finishing bottom of the league, five points away from safety. This ended their six-year stay in the second tier, having been relegated from the Premier
League in 2019.
They have had a strong first quarter of the season and look to be in the mix for a return to the Championship, currently sitting third after picking up seven wins, two draws and two losses so far.
Their recent form however has been mixed, having seen two wins, two losses and a draw in their last five games. Their last league game saw them beat Leyton Orient at home in a seven-goal thriller which ended 4-3 to the Bluebirds.
The two sides last faced each other in the 2022/23 Championship season. Reading claimed a 2-1 win at the Select Car Leasing Stadium in August after goals from Shane Long and Tom Ince, before the Bluebirds beat the Royals 1-0 at the Cardiff City Stadium the following February.
The boss
Brian Barry-Murphy: Barry-Murphy was appointed Cardiff head coach in June this year, taking over from Aaron Ramsey, who had been in a caretaker role following Omer Riza’s sacking in April.
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 on to 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 last December.
The 47-year-old has had a successful start to his time in charge of the Bluebirds, picking up 11 wins in his first 16 matches in charge, giving him a win percentage of 69%. He was also named League One manager of the month in August, with Cardiff unbeaten in the league in the first month of the season.
Barry-Murphy likes his sides to play attacking football while implementing a strong press.
Squad
It was a relatively quiet summer on the transfer front with Cardiff only adding three players to their squad during the window. Two players came in on loan, with goalkeeper Nathan Trott joining from Copenhagen and midfielder Omari Kellyman signing from Chelsea. Former Reading academy graduate Gabriel Osho was their sole permanent signing, joining from French side Auxerre.
Forward Ollie Tanner will miss this weekend’s game through injury while defender Dylan Lawlor is also a doubt as he recovers from a groin injury.
Predicted lineup
Trott, Kpakio, Osho, Lawlor, Bagan, Joel Colwill, Wintle, Davies, Rubin Colwill, Willock, Robinson
Key player
10. Rubin Colwill: Midfielder Colwill is a product of the Cardiff youth system and has been with the club since the age of eight. He made his debut for the Bluebirds in 2021 in a Championship game against Coventry City, before signing his first professional contract.
Colwill has gone on to make 169 appearances for the club and has had 33 goal involvements in that time, scoring 18 goals.
The 23-year-old has represented Wales at under-17 and under-21 levels and made his debut for the men’s national team in 2021, going on to make nine appearances for his country. His younger brother Joel is also part of the Cardiff City squad.
Colwill is an attacking midfielder who usually plays in the number 10 role and is a strong creative outlet for the Bluebirds, who likes to shoot from distance. He is also seen to be a leader within the squad and was named Cardiff vice captain for this season.
One to watch
22. Yousef Salech: Forward Salech signed for Cardiff in 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 23-year-old already has 13 Cardiff goals to his name since joining earlier on this year and was on the scoresheet in Cardiff’s last league game, at home to Leyton Orient. Salech is a striker who, standing at 6 foot 5, is strong in the air in both attack and defence.
