Cardiff City's injury crisis has deepened ahead of West Ham United's visit on Wednesday, with as many as eight players potentially unavailable for the Championship fixture. Manager Brian Barry-Murphy faces mounting selection problems after Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Wolves, where fresh concerns emerged over Will Fish, Perry Ng and Alex Robertson.
Defensive Ranks Decimated
The Bluebirds' defensive options have been stretched thin, forcing Barry-Murphy to deploy winger Ollie Tanner at left-back and midfielder Joel Colwill at right-back during the closing stages at Molineux. Ng was pressed into action at centre-half despite struggling with his own fitness.
Cardiff were already without Gabriel Osho, who has one game remaining on his suspension, and injured central defenders Dylan Lawlor and Calum Chambers. Both Lawlor and Chambers are expected to remain sidelined until after the November international break with hamstring and knee problems respectively.
Fish, who recently returned from hernia surgery, is now a major doubt after suffering a hamstring issue against Wolves. The defender was experiencing discomfort at half-time, but Barry-Murphy initially kept him on the pitch in the hope of mounting a comeback before withdrawing him.
Manager's Frustration
Barry-Murphy admitted the situation was becoming all too familiar after dealing with a similar defensive injury list earlier in the campaign.
"I think we spoke earlier in the season when four of our centre-backs were injured, and I incorrectly presumed that could never happen again. But it has," the Cardiff boss said. "I can't express how grateful I am. I asked Ollie Tanner to play left-back, he did it and gave it everything. Joel Colwill, when he played right-back, gave it everything. Perry, when he played centre-back, gave it everything, and he's been struggling."
"Will Fish had a sore hamstring, so we had to take him off. Alex Robertson's got a sore Achilles," he added. "The guys are giving everything for the club. That's why I say I can't be too critical of anything that we've done, apart from trying to make the players aware of what we have to do better to be competitive in these types of games and give ourselves a chance to win."
Midfield Concerns
Robertson, a key component of Barry-Murphy's midfield this season, is nursing an Achilles issue. "Alex's Achilles is a slight issue for us moving forward, but hopefully by getting him off at the stage we did, he can be fit for Wednesday," Barry-Murphy explained. "That was the idea."
Should Robertson fail to recover, Barry-Murphy may face a choice between David Turnbull and 17-year-old Charlie Holt, who was handed his senior Cardiff debut at Molineux on Saturday.
Cardiff are also hoping Krystian Bielik can return in time for Wednesday's encounter. The Poland international has missed the last two matches after suffering a groin problem in the warm-up before the victory over Birmingham City. "Krystian's groin injury is a lot better," Barry-Murphy said. "He did some training today, so we'll see how he is for Wednesday. But I don't know."
Robinson Situation
Isaak Davies was a mystery absentee from Cardiff's matchday squad at Wolves, with no explanation yet provided for his omission. That takes the number of players either unavailable or facing uncertainty to eight.
Callum Robinson has now been excluded from three successive matchday squads following Barry-Murphy's revelation that the forward had failed to adhere to the standards expected at the club. The Republic of Ireland international has been training with the group, but there has been no indication that he is any closer to being reintegrated.
Asked after the Wolves defeat whether he could provide further clarity on Robinson's continued exclusion, Barry-Murphy was dismissive. "No," he replied. "It's already been discussed. I think it's done."
