Cardiff City boss Neil Harris delivers tub-thumping Championship message to his Bluebirds stars
Bluebirds manager tells his players to carry on where they left off after soaring into the play-offs with an impressive run of results
Monday 31st August 2020
Cardiff City boss Neil Harris has told his Bluebirds stars to carry on where they left off as the countdown begins towards the Championship season opener with Sheffield Wednesday.
Cardiff rounded off their mini pre-season planning with a 2-1 win at Bristol Rovers, courtesy of goals by Robert Glatzel and Aden Flint.
Next up are Northampton in the League Cup, followed by that Cardiff City Stadium league clash with Wednesday on Saturday week.
That game kick-starts a tough beginning to the season for the Bluebirds, who meet fellow promotion hopefuls Nottingham Forest, Blackburn, Preston, Bournemouth, Derby and Neil Warnock's Middlesbrough in their opening eight fixtures.
But Harris wants to see his team get off to a flier and displaying the kind of form which saw them soar into the play-off spots post-lockdown and give promoted Fulham a huge fright in the semi-final second leg clash at Craven Cottage.
Cardiff won the game 2-1 after Harris got his team selection right for the second-half, but went out after a strangely insipid display at home when they lost the first-leg 2-0.
That first Fulham clash was a bit of a blip because the Bluebirds had built up a head of steam and were steamrollering past opponents.
Harris wants to see that dynamic form carried into the new season, telling the club's website: "When we play Sheffield Wednesday the message to the players is that we had a fantastic post-lockdown, and from February onwards really.
NEIL HARRIS:
"Let's carry our momentum on and use it with the quality that we've built in the side.
"Our rhythm has been broken slightly because of a couple of weeks off, but the players are fit.
"It's just about getting minutes in the legs at the moment, not so much about performance.
"We played 40 minutes last Saturday against ourselves, 50 minutes against Newport and 70 against Bristol Rovers, so we're really pleased with the minutes that we got in the group."
Harris was especially pleased to see Greg Cunningham return to action against Rovers after a year out of the game with knee trouble.
"A special mention to Greg for his first minutes back in 12 months. There was a round of applause in the changing room from the players for him," said Harris.
According to the bookmakers Cardiff are seventh favourites to go up, languishing behind Watford, Brentford, Norwich, Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Stoke.
But having pushed Fulham so close for a Wembley spot, and with Wales striker Kieffer Moore subsequently joining, there is far more optimism within the squad and the Bluebirds fan base of an automatic promotion push this season.
Moore will bring extra goal power and physical presence up front, while Glatzel started to prove his worth with a scoring spell under Harris.
The Bluebirds still need reinforcements, though, with a No.10 to help take the pressure off Lee Tomlin, a centre-back and right-back amongst the targets.
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