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Wales Online
Wales Online
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Glen Williams

The early Cardiff City vs West Brom team news as striker absent and Bluebirds sweat on key duo

Cardiff City striker Danny Ward will miss tonight's clash with West Brom having been deemed unfit following further head injury assessments.

The Bluebirds striker was taken off against Birmingham City 10 days ago owing to a head injury and subsequently missed last weekend's tie with Reading in line with concussion protocols.

It was thought, however, that Ward, who scored twice in the reverse fixture at The Hawthorns, would return for the visit of the Baggies, but he is not fit enough to be included tonight.

Elsewhere, the Bluebirds are left sweating over the fitness of key duo Lee Peltier and Joe Ralls.

Peltier hobbled off in the South Wales derby against Swansea City with a dead leg and it appears to have taken some time for that to heal.

It is still unknown whether he will be fit enough to take the pitch this evening.

Ralls, meanwhile, continues his rotten relationship with injury. The midfielder has endured an awful time of it in recent months and last Saturday, after 30 superb minutes, was once again victim of injury against the Royals.

The midfielder trudged off after just half an hour with a hip issue and he will also undergo a late assessment to ascertain whether he is fit enough to face the Baggies.

It means Will Vaulks, who was excellent in last weekend's FA Cup tie, could fill the void left by Ralls alongside Marlon Pack, with Leandro Bacuna potentially slotting in again at right back if Peltier misses out.

Harris will likely revert back to his centre-back pairing of choice in Sean Morrison and Curtis Nelson, meaning Sol Bamba and Aden Flint drop out.

Up top it now appears a straight shootout between Robert Glatzel and Callum Paterson, with Omar Bogle seemingly out of favour. While Glatzel enjoyed a decent outing at the Madejski Stadium, the Scot has been in excellent form of late and could well get the nod.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Isaac Vassell and Matthew Connolly remain the long-term injuries.

Predicted Cardiff City XI: Smithies; Bacuna, Morrison, Nelson, Bennett; Pack, Vaulks; Whyte, Tomlin, Murphy; Paterson

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For tonight's visitors, however, Slaven Bilic will be forced to field a somewhat patched-up side.

A host of Baggies stars are all ruled out of tonight's clash in the Welsh capital, notably Grady Diangana (hamstring) and Matheus Pereira (suspended), both of whom tormented City when they were hammered 4-2 at The Hawthorns back in October.

They also have something of an issue in defence, too, with Kieran Gibbs (hamstring), Nathan Ferguson (knee) and former Bluebird Semi Ajayi (suspended) all missing for Bilic.

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