Derby face the Bluebirds under the cameras and the floodlights on Friday as the Championship returns from an international break.
Phillip Cocu will be wanting to put behind him a frustrating start to the season with his side sitting in 19th and unable to build from an opening day victory over Huddersfield Town.
The Opposition
Cardiff City come into the game in 13th, starting life back in the second tier with a somewhat average start picking up two wins, two draws and two defeats.
Neil Warnock has looked to line up his sides in a 4-2-3-1 formation, that drops into a 4-5-1 when defending to make it hard for opposition to break them down before launching a quick back to front counter attack. This hasn’t always worked for them so far this season, conceding 1.5 goals a game on average so far.
Previous Meetings
The last meeting between the two sides came about in April of 2018, where the Rams stage an incredible fighting performance to win 3-1 from being a goal down courtesy of Callum Paterson. A Cameron Jerome brace either side of a Matej Vydra strike gave Gary Rowett’s side all three points.
The game before that, in the Championship season, saw the sides unable to break the deadlock as the game ended 0-0 at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Team News
Jayden Bogle is still unfit to start but has stepped up preparations to return to footballing action soon. George Evans has also suffered a muscle injury that will side-line him for some time according to Cocu. However, Bielik is fit enough to start in midfield and Duane Holmes, Scott Malone and Florian Josefzoon are all fit enough for the match.
Cardiff have been boosted in the injury department with the return of Sol Bamba and Neil Etheridge who were all staples of Warnock’s promotion and Premier League campaign. Marlon Pack and Danny Ward are the only long-term absentees for the Bluebirds heading into the game.
Manager’s thoughts
When asked about the international break, Cocu said: “It feels like a new start after a break. Now it is up to the team and the staff to show it to our fans, and the club and to ourselves.”
“What I expect from the team is to show they will go all the way to get the result for the fans. It starts with that mentality and attitude. I am sure it will be good on Friday.”
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