Cardiff City defender Will Fish is set to be sidelined for three months after undergoing surgery on a hernia, Brian Barry-Murphy has confirmed. Fish is one of a number of defensive players currently unavailable to the Bluebirds, leaving Barry-Murphy with limited options at the back as Cardiff prepare to begin their Championship campaign.
Fish's injury and surgery
The 23-year-old, who was one of last season's most consistent performers, was absent from Cardiff's 3-2 Carabao Cup victory over Swindon Town on Saturday and will now undergo surgery on Monday. Barry-Murphy confirmed the extent of the issue when asked for an update on his defensive absentees.
“Will Fish is having surgery on a hernia on Monday. He'll be out for three months,” he said.
Other defensive absentees
His absence is compounded by a number of other issues within the defensive ranks. Dylan Lawlor is also unavailable, although Barry-Murphy admitted there is currently no clear indication of when the young centre-back will return.
“Dylan doesn't know when he's going to be back. Hard to put a timescale on that because it has been an ongoing issue,” he said. “Calum Chambers has a knee issue, again with no timescale on that.” Rubin Colwill is also carrying an injury, with the Cardiff boss revealing that his ankle “isn't quite right yet”.
Osho's discomfort during Swindon win
The situation was highlighted during Saturday's victory over Swindon, when Gabriel Osho was forced to battle through discomfort late in the game. Osho has been one of Cardiff's standout performers during pre-season and started alongside Perry Ng at the heart of the defence against Swindon.
Barry-Murphy admitted the former Luton Town defender should ideally have been taken off but was forced to keep him on because Cardiff had no natural centre-back cover available on the bench. “It should have taken him off in the game, he was quite sore towards the end, but we just had no centre-back cover on the bench, so it took a bit of [management] to help us,” he said. “I hope he's OK in the days coming up.”
Osho's progress and squad depth
Osho's form has at least provided a defensive positive, with Barry-Murphy praising the defender's progress after a difficult first season in south Wales. “I think he's making good progress. He's had a full pre-season, so he's been in really good rhythm, and his fitness is probably in a better place than it was at any stage of last season,” he said.
The defensive shortage was such that 15-year-old Noah Anyadike was named among the substitutes against Swindon. Asked whether the injury situation increased the need for new signings, the Cardiff boss insisted recruitment was not being driven solely by the current absences, but acknowledged the squad is short on numbers.
“We never react because of injuries unless they're really long-term, but we're looking to improve all areas of the team, and we're conscious of the fact that we're very short in terms of numbers at the moment,” he said.
