" CARDIFF TO HAVE NEW PARTNERSHIP UP FRONT "

" Doyle and McAleny to start on Saturday "

Weds April 1st 2015

By Steve Tucker


The duo will form yet another new strike combination as Slade continues to search for his ideal front two


Cardiff City boss Russell Slade is set to try out yet another strike partnership as the Bluebirds return to Championship action at Reading on Easter Saturday.

Dealing with a raft of injuries to his forwards and the loss of others on loan, Slade will pair Eoin Doyle with on-loan Everton youngster Conor McAleny at the Madejski Stadium with Joe Mason set to be on the bench for the first time following his injury woes.

Doyle, who signed from Chesterfield in January and is still top scorer in League One, opened his Cardiff account with a strike in the 2-0 win over Birmingham last time out.

Meanwhile McAleny, with the Bluebirds from Everton until the end of the season, is over his hamstring problem and will play the number 10 role alongside Doyle.

Mason could be given a late run out too in Berkshire having come through a development match and an in-house game last week.

Following loan spells at Bolton and his hamstring injury, it would be the 23-year-old’s first action in a Cardiff shirt since he turned out against Bolton in an FA Cup win in January 2014.

The return of Mason is a boost for Slade who has seen his options also hit by the shock news top-scorer Kenwyne Jones has headed out on loan to Bournemouth until the end of the season. He joins Adam Le Fondre who left for Bolton in January.

Slade has seen his forward department hit with injury too. Federico Macheda picked up a back injury in the warm-up ahead of the Birmingham match and is very doubtful for Reading, while Alex Revell came off with a back injury against Birmingham.

Nicky Maynard has also been ruled out by a long-term injury problem.

Let's hope we don't spend the whole game lumping the ball up to them in the air or it will be a long afternoon.

Could be a good partnership. Macheda back injury, Revell back injury "carrying fking kenwyn for 90mins"

Shocked that Carl hasn't posted his usual 1001 links to the Walesonline article!

You never know.

Slade has the rare luxury of trying combinations without risking too much in the league.

Good on him!!

You never know.

Slade has the rare luxury of trying combinations without risking too much in the league.

Good on him!!

Be nice to see some DVP squad players given a run out and not for the last few minutes of our last game of the season, which occurred last season!

Yeah start filtering a few youth in. But also got players coming back from injuries. I think he's still trying to keep momentum going and trying to finish last few games on a positive so imo don't think we'll see many young uns in.

Yeah start filtering a few youth in. But also got players coming back from injuries. I think he's still trying to keep momentum going and trying to finish last few games on a positive so imo don't think we'll see many young uns in.

Yeah I agree. He's going to want to finish the season strongly but the reality is that we have nothing to win and nothing to lose, so why not give the youth a chance? If there's ever going to be an opportunity to play with no risk now is the time! I'd like to see Tom James in the Starting XI but yeah I agree, Slade won't give the youth a chance.

You never know.

Slade has the rare luxury of trying combinations without risking too much in the league.

Good on him!!

Be nice to see some DVP squad players given a run out and not for the last few minutes of our last game of the season, which occurred last season!

Ideal opportunity. To be honest if promotion was a possibility, this chance would not have come. It's a very positive thing in my book.

I would have liked to have seen Healey given a run of games but he's gone back out on loan.

Is there any chance of us keeping McAleny?