' THREE CARDIFF CITY PLAYERS ON INTERNATIONAL DUTY '
Football League writer Ashley Williams
Friday 11th November 2016
Cardiff City’s Neil Warnock will surely be glad of an international break as his fairy-tale start with the Welsh side has slammed back to reality, after suffering back-to-back defeats against Wigan Athletic and Newcastle.
Those defeats see them hover just above the drop-zone and the Yorkshireman will have time to reflect on his opening five games of the club and how they can progress away from the bottom three.
In total, the Bluebirds just have three players on international duty this week in the World Cup qualifying stages, which means the majority of the squad will remain in Cardiff.
Emyr Huws
The Welshman is the only player from the Bluebirds squad to link up with his native country for the tough game against Serbia, as Jazz Richards has been overlooked this time around.
Huws is not expected to start the qualifier, but has been coming off the bench in recent games to inject some energy into the midfielder in the final stages of games, which could be useful against a energetic Serbian side.
Aron Gunnarsson
The Iceland captain has been integral to his countries recent progress after reaching the quarter final stage at the European Championship in France this summer.
They are also riding well in the qualifying stages for the World Cup after picking up seven points in their opening three games.
They are on the same points as this weekend’s opposition Croatia. Travelling to Croatia will be tough for the Icelandics, and I expect them to made uncomfortable through the game. Gunnarsson will be up against some the most talented midfielders in Europe, with the likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic expected to start.
He will need to play a simple game and cancel out any attacks, like he has been doing for the Bluebirds over the past few weeks.
Bruno Manga
It has been a rather turbulent month for the Gabon national side as head coach Jorge Costa has been removed from his post just two months before the country hosts the Africa Cup of Nations. There was no reason for the sudden change at the top of the national team, but they must put those concerns aside and focus on their qualifier against Mali at the weekend. Manga has been on the side-lines with the Bluebirds this season, but has been a solid part of his countries back-four.
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