Opposition Lowdown: Cardiff City On Verge Of Promotion

Cardiff’s Dylan Lawlor / | Getty Images 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.