‘Cardiff now have a tricky fortnight to negotiate’
16/02/08
by Jamie Kemble
‘Cardiff now have a tricky fortnight to negotiate’
The Bluebirds failed to take three points from strugglers MK Dons at home on Saturday afternoon and as a result, they have given themselves a tricky couple of weeks as they attempt to close-in on the Sky Bet Championship.
After dropping yet another two points against lower league opposition, Cardiff are now five points from the top six with sixteen games remaining. Next Saturday they travel to The Valley as they take on bottom-club Charlton Athletic before two very difficult fixtures in the following weeks.
Following the Charlton game, Cardiff host fourth placed Brighton and Hove Albion before travelling to title-chasing Middlesbrough.
Cardiff will need to take three points from bottom-club Charlton next week or they may take just three points or less from the next three games. If the Bluebirds want to contest the play-offs then they should be looking to see of Charlton and even Brighton likewise, although Middlesbrough is a tough trip for even the best teams in the league.
By dropping points against MK Dons, Cardiff have piled a huge amount of pressure on themselves to make it three away wins on the bounce when they travel to Charlton or by the time they come home from Middlesbrough, they could be a long way off the play-offs unless they pull off a couple of surprise wins.
Having said that, if Cardiff can take six points from their next three games then they will be provided with the opportunity to go on a nice run with Preston (14th) home, Bristol City (20th) away and Leeds (16th) home before hosting play-off rivals Ipswich Town at home.
The big issue at the moment is; Cardiff lack ruthlessness – when you feel they might go on a run, they slip up and instead of scoring three or four they end up scraping a draw or failing to score. If you look at Brighton, they have often made their own luck this season with plenty of late winners but you don’t often see that from Cardiff.
If Russell Slade can install the ruthlessness needed into his side then I believe you will see the consistency coming through. If you look at Cardiff’s play-off rivals: Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham, they all play until the end and they score plenty of last minute winners because they make sure they win at any cost and at the moment, we’re just not getting that from Cardiff.
If Slade’s men can go to Charlton and see off the Addicks as they should then they will have the confidence to go and beat a very good Brighton side at home before travelling to ‘Boro’ but slip-up at Charlton then that Brighton game will become very difficult because Chris Hughton’s men are a ruthless team and they will undoubtedly give Cardiff a difficult afternoon.
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