Cardiff City will assess Gabriel Osho after the defender left Monday night's draw with Wrexham on crutches, with Brian Barry-Murphy admitting his side are currently "vulnerable" and "stretched" at the back.
The Bluebirds were forced to field a makeshift defence for their Championship opener at Cardiff City Stadium, with Joel Bagan deputising at centre-back alongside Osho. The pair were the only available options in the heart of the defence, with new signing Calum Scanlon making his second debut for the club at left-back.
Scanlon impressed on his return to Cardiff, while Bagan also produced an excellent display out of position as the Bluebirds fought back to claim a point through Rubin Colwill's spectacular late free-kick.
Osho's knee injury and assessment
However, there is now a concern over Osho's fitness ahead of Saturday's first away game of the season against Derby County. Barry-Murphy confirmed the defender had hyperextended his knee late in the game and was left in discomfort, explaining the crutches were used to prevent him from putting weight on the injury after the final whistle.
"Well, he hyperextended his knee late on, so he was in discomfort," Barry-Murphy said. "The crutches were just to make sure he wasn't weight-bearing after the game, but we'll check on him this afternoon and see if he's OK. He was quite sore after the game, so we'll have to check on him this afternoon."
Chambers and other defensive absences
The Cardiff boss will also assess Calum Chambers, who remains uncertain to take part in Thursday's training session. "We're going to check on him," Barry-Murphy said when asked if Chambers would train. "Not sure if he'll do the full session, but we'll check on him this afternoon and hopefully he can move forward to Saturday."
Dylan Lawlor, meanwhile, has already been ruled out of the trip to Derby, while Will Fish remains unavailable.
The defensive absences have left Cardiff particularly short of options, with Bagan having to move into the centre against Wrexham and Scanlon immediately drafted into the starting XI following his return from Liverpool.
Barry-Murphy on squad depth and transfer plans
Barry-Murphy acknowledged the situation has left his squad exposed, although he joked that selecting his defence had been straightforward given the lack of alternatives. "It hasn't been a challenge to decide who plays where because we have nobody else. So that's been pretty straightforward," he said. "This is a welcome relief for me. But joking aside, I think it just happens. There's different things that will happen during the season that test you. At the moment, in that area of the pitch, we are vulnerable, and that's obvious."
Cardiff are continuing to work on potential additions to the squad, but Barry-Murphy stressed the club would not panic in the transfer market. "I just want to get the players fit and healthy as soon as we can, and obviously continue with our strategy in a calm and precise manner to improve the squad," he said.
Barry-Murphy said Cardiff would "put our best team" out at Pride Park and give everything to try to secure their first Championship win of the season.
