MATCH THRE: " CARDIFF CITY v PRESTON NORTH END " MATCH THREA

CARDIFF CITY v PRESTON NORTH END
Saturday 12th March, 3pm
Sky Bet Championship
Cardiff City Stadium 



City: Alex Smithies, Cody Drameh, Perry Ng, Aden Flint, Mark McGuinness
Alfie Doughty, Ryan Wintle, Joe Ralls, Tommy Doyle, Isaak Davies,Jordan Hugill

Sub: Dillon Phillips, Joel Bagan, Oliver Denham, Will Vaulks
Rubin Colwill, Mark Harris, Uche Ikpeazu




Updated: 11/03/22 Team news:


"Everyone’s fit. Nelson is back on the grass this week, so it’s too soon for him. But touch wood it’s a clean bill of health. Apart from the long-term injured we’ve got a full squad to pick from."

"A nice problem to have."

Steve Morison


TEAM NEWS:


Tommy Doyle back in training:

Wednesday 9th February 2022

Steve Morison will be buoyed by Tommy Doyle returning to full training this week


Max Watters is still out after rolling his ankle in training, while Curtis Nelson (calf) is also absent.

Sean Morrison and Isaac Vassell have both been ruled out for the season.



Can I stream or watch the match on TV?

Not on TV in the UK.

The Opposition's Manager - Ryan Lowe

Ryan Lowe was appointed Preston manager in December.

He had previously had spells in charge of Bury and Plymouth. He achieved promotion from League Two with both of those clubs.

He has done well at Preston, with the team now just five points off the play-off places.

Opposition Dangerous Players

Cameron Archer has five goals in ten games since joining on loan from Aston Villa

Previous Meeting 

We won 2-1 at home to Preston after extra time in the FA Cup this season.

We also won 2-1 at Preston in the league in November

Team News - Predicted Line-Ups

Cardiff City: Smithies, Drameh, Ng, Flint, McGuinness, Doughty, Wintle, Vaulks, Ralls, Colwill, Hugill

Preston North End: Iversen, Potts, Van Den Berg, Diaby, Hughes, Earl, Browne, Whiteman, Johnson, Archer, Evans

Form - Last Three Competitive Games

QPR 1-2 Cardiff City
Cardiff City 1-0 Derby County
Cardiff City 0-1 Fulham

Preston North End 2-1 AFC Bournemouth
Coventry City 1-1 Preston North End
Preston North End 0-0 Nottingham Forest

Match Odds

Cardiff City - 6/5
Preston North End - 21/10
Draw - 11/5

Predictions

Post your predictions below 

Remaining fixtures:



Sat Mar 12 Cardiff City v Preston North End

Wed Mar 16 Cardiff City v Stoke City






Sat Apr 2 Swansea City H
Sat Apr 9 Reading A
Fri Apr 15 Hull City A
Mon Apr 18 Luton Town H
Sat Apr 23 Sheffield United A
Tuesday 26th April Middlesborough A
Sat Apr 30 Birmingham City H


Sat May 7 Derby County A

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TEAM NEWS:


Max Watters is still out after rolling his ankle in training, while Curtis Nelson (calf) is also absent.

Sean Morrison and Isaac Vassell have both been ruled out for the season.

3-1 to the Bloobirds

3-0.

Playoffs.

C'mon City Onwards and upwards

MARCH 2022



UPDATED:

‘’Derby County 21 points deducted / Fighting every week

‘Reading 6 points deducted and are now fighting back.

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City 3-1

Tommy Doyle back in training


Wednesday 9th February 2022



Steve Morison will be buoyed by Tommy Doyle returning to full training this week.

Preston boss Ryan Lowe says the Lilywhites will head into the fixture with Cardiff on Saturday with the pressure off.

Wednesday 9th March 2022



Pressure off for Preston

The Lancashire side moved on to 50 points with a win over Bournemouth last Saturday, which leaves them in 12th position, seven points off the play-offs but having played a few more games than those above them.

It seems unlikely they'll be there in the promotion mix come May, meaning the handbrake can be let off a bit at the weekend and for the rest of the season.

“We are down to our last 10 games," he said.

"If we had beaten Nottingham Forest the other week and won at Coventry, I would have been standing here saying we want to fight for the play-offs.

"That would have been an extra four points and we’d be on 54 points – we are on 50 points.


"I can’t say we are going to do this or do that, all I’m going to ask the group to do is win as many games as they possibly can and see where that takes us.

"There’s no pressure on them, we will do the best we can.”

Ex-Bluebirds duo out of Preston clash and icon hugely excited by Colwill and Davies talent
By Paul Abbandonato

Former Cardiff City stars Josh Murphy and Greg Cunningham will be absent when their new club Preston head to the Welsh capital this weekend.

Murphy has recently recovered from an injury issue but is prohibited from playing in the game as part of the terms which saw him loaned out by Steve Morison to Preston.

Left-back Cunningham has shaken off a calf problem but has been affected by an Achilles injury, so he too is out.

Preston boss Ryan Lowe said: "Greg, we thought we'd have back this week, but he will probably be another four or five days.

"His calf injury was fine and it's his Achilles. So it's more a precaution - holding him back a couple of days."

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Ridsdale's foot in two camps

Former Bluebirds boss Peter Ridsdale is set to return this weekend to the club's Cardiff City Stadium home he played such a pivotal role in helping to build.

Cardiff were struggling to get a deal over the line for their state-of-the-art new ground as they looked to move from Ninian Park.

Ridsdale was brought on board and acted as a conduit between the local council, developers and football bodies to ensure planning permission went ahead.

He could come back to the director's box on Saturday in his guise as an advisor to Preston.

Ridsdale was Cardiff chairman from 2006-2010, replacing Sam Hammam, and under his watch the Bluebirds reached the FA Cup final and challenged for promotion to the Premier League.

He has retained a strong affinity for Wales' capital city club.

Since leaving Cardiff, Ridsdale was involved with Plymouth and more recently Saturday's opponents Preston.

He was chairman of the Lancashire club before leaving the role and becoming an advisor to the owners.

Murphy and Cunningham miss Cardiff return

Former Cardiff City stars Josh Murphy and Greg Cunningham will be absent when their new club Preston head to the Welsh capital this weekend.

Murphy has recently recovered from an injury issue but is prohibited from playing in the game as part of the terms which saw him loaned out by Steve Morison to Preston.

Left-back Cunningham has shaken off a calf problem but has been affected by an Achilles injury, so he too is out.

Preston boss Ryan Lowe said: "Greg, we thought we'd have back this week, but he will probably be another four or five days.

"His calf injury was fine and it's his Achilles. So it's more a precaution - holding him back a couple of days."

Team news:


"Everyone’s fit. Nelson is back on the grass this week, so it’s too soon for him. But touch wood it’s a clean bill of health. Apart from the long-term injured we’ve got a full squad to pick from."

"A nice problem to have."

Steve Morison

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What's the latest team news?




Cardiff boss Steve Morison has no fresh concerns ahead of this weekend's clash, with Tommy Doyle set to return after missing the win over QPR due to illness.

Max Watters remains out after rolling his ankle in training, while this clash is likely to come too soon for Curtis Nelson, who is still recovering from a calf injury.

Sean Morrison and Isaac Vassell remain out for the rest of the season.








Former Bluebirds duo Josh Murphy (ineligible) and Greg Cunningham (Achilles) are set to miss out for the visitors.

Liam Lindsay is poised to return from a one-game suspension, while Patrick Bauer and Sean Maguire are both expected to be in contention following their respective returns from injury.

What are the latest betting odds?




Cardiff City win: 6/4


Draw: 2/1


Preston win: 21/10

(Odds courtesy of SkyBet and correct at time of publishing)

Who is the referee?



James Linington will be the man in the middle for this clash.

He'll be assisted by Mark Pottage and Matthew Jones.

Trevor Kettle is the fourth official.

Match facts:


Cardiff City have won their last four league matches against Preston North End, their best run against them since an eight-game winning run between 1968 and 1972.



Preston have won just one of their last 11 away league games against Cardiff (D4 L6), a 1-0 win in December 2017.


Cardiff City have won six of their last 10 league games (D1 L3), as many as they’d managed 27 games combined (W6 D6 L15).


Ryan Lowe has only lost two of his last 15 away league matches as a manager across spells with Plymouth and Preston (W8 D5), losing just one of his seven as Preston boss so far (W4 D2).



Cardiff have scored the fewest first half goals in the Championship this season (7), with each of their last 10 league goals coming in the second half of matches.

Arrived in Cardiff.

Tough game today, Ryan Lowe doing a great job at PNE.

Huge boost for us to have Tommy Doyle available again.

Hopefully we can build on recent good performances and great results.

Two changes - @Tommy_Doyle8 & @isaakdavies77 come in!

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Well done Preston not going down on one knee

Cardiff probing with an early ball over the top of the Preston defence.

Doyle chases to the byline, but Diaby does just about enough to shield it out of play.

Cardiff seeing plenty of the ball in these early exchanges.

Ball's knocked around the back three before Ng lofts forwad for Davies to chase.

Goal kick.

McGuinness has the ball pinched off him out wide and Preston break down the right hand side.

Cross comes in with Hughes lurking, but the referee has spotted a foul.

Really nice stuff from Doughty, who skips past his marker brilliantly before curling in a cross at the byline.

Preston clear their lines, but Cardiff win it back.

Ng tries to keep it alive, but his ball is too high and hard for Hugill.

Doughty wins a corner.

Ralls steers in towards the six-yard box, but it evades everyone.

Flint picks up and dinks ball back into the mixer.

Davies gets a head on it, but it's too weak and the flag's up anyway.

Drameh, who moments ago sparked plenty of 'Ooohs' with a classy little dragback on the nearside, nearly pounces on a wayward Iversen pass, but is denied by Lindsay's sliding block.

He tries to keep it alive, but is penalised for a late sliding challenge on Hughes.

Drameh involved again down the right.

Dinks a cross in towards Hugill, but he can't get a decent connection on it and it's too weak to even go out for a goal kick.

Brilliant football from Cardiff.

Archer's cross at the byline is snuffed out and the ball is fed to Drameh, who motors down the right, before squaring for Doyle on the halfway line.

Doyle then plays a scintillating pass straight through the heart of the defence to Hugill, who eventually fizzes a cross into the six-yard box, but Davies can't get a meaningful connection on it and Preston survive.

The Bluebirds doung okay here and Isaak Davies certainly has a bit of the Craig Bellamy's aboutbhis game...

C'mon City....

LATEST SCORE: CARDIFF CITY 0 - 0 PRESTON NORTH END

Preston enjoying a bit of possession now after surviving those early probes from the hosts.

No real chances for either side yet...