Brian Barry-Murphy expects Cardiff City to complete a new signing before Tuesday's Carabao Cup second-round tie with Norwich City, admitting the club's defensive situation cannot continue.
The Bluebirds boss spoke after his side drew 2-2 with Derby County at Pride Park on Saturday, a match in which Cardiff were forced to play without a recognised centre-back. With the transfer window closing on September 1, Barry-Murphy has made it clear reinforcements are needed, expecting movement before the Norwich game at Cardiff City Stadium.
Injury crisis in defence
"We obviously have four players injured at the moment who play in that position, so it's slightly unusual," Barry-Murphy said. "But it is an area of the team that we're looking to improve anyway, so fingers crossed something will happen soon." Asked directly whether he expected a new arrival before Tuesday, he replied: "I would expect so."
Cardiff's defensive problems were exposed at Pride Park, with Barry-Murphy later admitting he needs a specialist centre-half in the building. Gabriel Osho, who started against Wrexham on the opening night, was unavailable after hyper-extending his knee in that 1-1 draw. Will Fish is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, while Dylan Lawlor remains unavailable and Calum Chambers is yet to return to training.
Chambers' absence appears far from over. "Not so close, I don't think," Barry-Murphy said. "I think he's not trained with us yet. Still has some issues with his knee so it's difficult to say."
Improvised backline against Derby
The injury crisis left Cardiff with no choice but to improvise against Derby, with right-back Perry Ng and left-back Joel Bagan forming an unlikely centre-half pairing. Ronan Kpakio and Calum Scanlon filled the full-back positions, while Alex Robertson was asked to operate as the deepest midfielder in front of them.
Despite those circumstances, Cardiff twice led through Cian Ashford and Yousef Salech before Bobby Clark's second-half equaliser secured a 2-2 draw. Barry-Murphy was pleased with the response from his players. "The players who played today did a great job and I'm very proud and pleased with their performance," he said.
The Cardiff boss said his intention had been to attack rather than simply contain Derby. "Just to try and win, try and go for the game, try and be as aggressive as possible," he said. "I felt as if the best form of defence for us was to attack and try and be on the front foot, and the players certainly did that."
The manager accepted that Derby's equaliser just four minutes into the second half was disappointing, but felt the hosts' quality made life difficult. "They obviously have a really good team, a good manager, and they create situations that are difficult to defend," he said. "It was always going to be situations where we had to defend the box well and in those instances that you referenced we just didn't do that."
Squad strengthening needed
The point leaves Cardiff unbeaten from their opening two Championship matches following Monday's dramatic draw with Wrexham. But Barry-Murphy knows the squad needs strengthening, particularly given the demands of the Carabao Cup. "I wouldn't say a number," he said when asked how many signings he wanted before September 1. "I think it's obvious we're trying to improve the squad. We have to show the players that are already here that the respect and ambition that they possess is going to be matched by us, and that's what we look to do."
Jack Moylan remains Cardiff's only brand-new signing of the summer so far, although the returns of goalkeeper Nathan Trott and left-back Calum Scanlon have provided welcome additions. Moylan himself was withdrawn against Derby after appearing to pick up an injury, but Barry-Murphy moved to ease fears. "Just a dead leg, I think he'll be fine," he said. "The way Jack plays the game there's going to be a lot of contact made, so just a little bit of a dead leg. He'll be fine."
Rubin Colwill was another player whose minutes had to be carefully managed, with the Wales international withdrawn shortly before the hour mark after starting despite having had limited training. "I just don't want to be greedy with how often he can play based on how little he's trained," Barry-Murphy explained. "It's good to have him back. He'll improve a lot for the game and we'll try and keep him fit."
The manager suggested the situation will be assessed carefully ahead of Norwich, particularly after Scanlon completed his first full 90 minutes in around two and a half years. "We'll reassess the players after Calum Scanlon's first 90 minutes in maybe like two and a half years, so we just have to be careful of exposing players like that again," he said. "We haven't got many options at the moment, so hopefully we can have somebody in."
Cardiff host Norwich at 7pm on Tuesday with a place in the third round at stake. Barry-Murphy insists the competition will be approached with the same winning mentality as every other game, although player welfare will have to be considered. "We treat every game with the intention of winning, and that won't change with regard to Tuesday," he said. "We just have to try and make sure that the players are not pushing too far too soon in the season."
