Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Mathew Davies

Cardiff City headlines as Birmingham City camp hit by Covid and Neil Etheridge makes first league appearance since hospitalisation

These are your Cardiff City headlines on Monday, December 6.

Birmingham City hit by Covid

Saturday's opponents Birmingham City have been hit by an outbreak of Covid in their camp.

Manager Lee Bowyer revealed that members of his coaching staff were kept away from the training ground last week and missed the weekend's defeat at Millwall.

“They have all had Covid,” Bowyer explained. “They share an office, two of them share driving, so four of them have been off all week. I had to borrow Craig (Gardner) this week because I was on my own.”

One bonus to emerge from the defeat at The Den was the return of former Bluebirds keeper Neil Etheridge.

The keeper was making his first league start since his summer hospitalisation after contracting coronavirus.

The 31-year-old had featured in the League Cup and under-23 matches, but with first-choice stopper Matija Sarkic out with a hamstring injury, Etheridge deputised and did OK.

He may well keep the jersey for the clash at St Andrew's.

Under-23s win again

Cardiff's under-23s secured yet another win to maintain their perfect start to the season.

Goals from Ryan Kavanagh and Chanka Zimba put the young Bluebirds in complete control against Watford before the break in the capital.

After the restart, James Connolly and Joel Bagan netted to confirm a comfortable 4-0 win.

Bagan and Tom Sang got valuable minutes under their belts against the Hornets, giving Steve Morison a squad boost heading into the weekend clash with the Blues.

It's now 11 wins from 11 games for the youngsters.

Wintle's man-of-the-match display

Cardiff's on-loan midfielder Ryan Wintle put in a man-of-the-match performance against Luton at the weekend.

His temporary side Blackpool went down 3-0 at home to the Hatters but Wintle was the pick of the bunch according to the local press.

"Took his game to another level in the first-half, but a little quieter in the second," reported the Blackpool Gazette.

"Denied by a wonder save from long range," they added, before awarding the 24-year-old a seven out of 10 mark, the highest of all the Tangerine players alongside Marvin Ekpiteta.

Bluebirds to discover FA Cup fate

The draw for the the third round of the FA Cup takes place tonight with the Bluebirds in the hat.

You can follow the draw live with us here from around 5pm.

It gets under way at 7pm before the second-round tie between Boreham Wood and St Albans City.

Cardiff are ball number 12.

Other selected numbers are Arsenal (two), Chelsea (13), Liverpool (23). Manchester United 26 and Swansea City (39).

For the latest football news and analysis delivered straight to your inbox, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.