Cardiff City

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Cardiff City striker Yousef Salech was only meant to make a cameo appearance against Birmingham City, before his game-winning turn.

Salech had not featured for the Bluebirds since injuring his shoulder in the win over Charlton Athletic five weeks ago.

He had been named on the bench to face Chris Davies' side, before a groin injury suffered by Krsytian Bielik in the warm-up prompted a late change.

Salech went on to play 90 minutes, scoring the game's only goal as well as missing a penalty.

But Brian Barry-Murphy said he was always confident in the forward, admitting he based the decision on caution against Birmingham's set-piece strength.

"It wasn't a situation that we envisaged happening," said the Cardiff City head coach.

"We threw him in but he is very strong-minded. Once I asked him the question if he was good to go, there was no hesitation.

"He was tired afterwards - he looked punch-drunk - but I think the victory will make him sleep easier tonight."

Salech responded with his third Championship goal of the campaign, with Barry-Murphy having to shuffle his selection following defender Bielik's injury,

"Krystian felt his groin at the end of the warm-up and we weren't sure he could play," he explained.

"We're already without so many centre-backs, we couldn't take another chance with Krystian.

"We didn't expect Yousef to be playing any longer than 45 minutes under any circumstances, really.

"But Birmingham are a very dangerous team with a really big set-play presence and it was important to have Yousef on the pitch for that.

"We could have played Chris Willock, but I felt as if it was important that we had a chance to defend the set-plays that we would face."

We asked for your views after Cardiff City drew 2-2 with Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.

The Bluebirds led 2-0 thanks to goals from Jack Moylan and Ollie Tanner, although Boro claimed a point through second half efforts from Tommy Conway and Will Lankshear.

Cardiff City fans

Boz - Played very well and deserved the point, was at the game, Boro fan. If you play like that all season you could reach the play-offs. Well done away fans, safe trip home.

Phil: Inspired (not) half time change by the head coach. Gave momentum straight back to Boro after leading 2-0 at the break.

Reg: Well done Cardiff City.

Tom: A really gutsy performance where we had to dig in for long spells. Referee did us no favours either. That's just one defeat in four and seven points. Hopefully momentum and confidence continue to build. Will be interesting to see what we can achieve once Rubin [Colwill] and Yousef [Salech] are back.

On Gabriel Osho's red card...

Sion: He didn't deserve a straight red, end of. Boro were lucky not to be a man down and a penalty award against in the first half! Very inconsistent card use.

Tim: Looked harsh to me. Yellow normally for those. But not sure if it gets overturned in appeal.

Sloper Road Blues: Wasn't a red card IMO, but there was also no need to give the referee a decision to make... it was rash.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Alex Robertson said it was a proud moment to captain Cardiff City for the first time in their 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough.

The 23-year-old wore the armband in the absence of Calum Chambers, Rubin Colwill and Perry Ng at the Riverside Stadium.

"It's a proud moment, I think that's my first professional game as a captain," he told BBC Radio Wales.

"It's a really proud moment for me. The boys really helped me.

"I've got good leaders behind me in Osh (Gabriel Osho) and Krystian [Bielik] which made it pretty easy.

"The main thing was that we got a result."

The Bluebirds made a dream start against Kim Hellberg's side as goals from Jack Moylan and Ollie Tanner put them 2-0 up in the first half.

But Boro responded with quickfire efforts from Tommy Conway and Will Lankshear in the second half to earn a point against Brian Barry-Murphy's side - who had Osho sent off late on.

"Obviously it was very good to go 2-0 up in the first half, but second half it was disappointing to concede the two goals," Robertson said.

"I think the boys showed great fight to protect our goal and try and get a result out of the game, and that's what we've done. I'm proud of the boys for that."

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Cardiff City defender Gabriel Osho did not deserve his red card at Middlesbrough, according to Bluebirds boss Brian Barry-Murphy.

But Cardiff's head coach hinted he would not appeal the decision that saw the visitors finish their 2-2 draw at the Riverside with ten men.

Osho was given his marching orders for an 83rd minute challenge on Boro goalscorer Will Lankshear after the pair had a running battle during the latter stages of the fixture that saw Cardiff take a two-goal first-half lead before the hosts' comeback.

Barry-Murphy claimed he had not reviewed the footage, but said: "Osho was in the position that we wanted him to be, he had to be aggressive and go for the ball.

"I didn't think it was a red card but the referee made his decision and I have to move on quickly and try and find a solution to help the players."

Cardiff host Birmingham City next Saturday, Chris Davies' Blues having dropped just two points in their last five games with Saturday's 3-0 win over QPR followed a 4-0 win over Preston.

Osho faces an automatic ban, with Dylan Lawlor and Callum Chambers already out injured and Will Fish only making substitute appearances after his return from injury.

Asked if Cardiff will appeal Osho's red, Barry-Murphy said: "I'm not sure. History suggests that our appeals haven't been very successful in my time here. We'll see what happens after we review the footage."

Image source, Getty Images

Head coach Brian Barry-Murphy says Cardiff City will show no fear at promotion-chasing Middlesbrough on Saturday. 17 October (12:30 BST)

The Bluebirds are still searching for their first away win this season as they travel to the Riverside Stadium to take on a 'Boro team unbeaten in their last eight league games and just two points behind Championship leaders Swansea.

"We don't fear them and we're not afraid of anything," said Barry-Murphy.

"We go there, try and play in the same manner as Tuesday and try and win."

Cardiff - who beat Watford 5-1 at home in midweek - will have to try and keep the Championship's top scorer Will Lankshear quiet.

The former Tottenham striker has scored 10 goals in all competitions since a summer move to Teesside, part of a recruitment drive which saw Middlesbrough spend over £40m on new players.

"What the other clubs do is none of my business, and it doesn't take any of our focus," the Cardiff head coach added.

"Our focus is on ourselves completely, and we respect them enormously.

"The team, the manager, had a brilliant season last year but we don't fear them.

"We're not afraid of anything and we've got a group of players who will show that on Saturday by how aggressive we are in the game, how we try and play our game and try and win.

"We have two choices: we go there and we try and step back, or we try and step forward.

"And by stepping forward, we don't know how good or how well we can play, but we're going to give everything to try and do that and try and win."

Image source, Getty Images

Cardiff City full-back Joel Bagan says finally making his international debut for the Republic of Ireland last month was "an amazing experience" for him and his family.

Bagan, born in Basingstoke, qualifies to play for Ireland through his maternal grandparents who are from Cork.

He made his senior international debut coming off the bench against Israel in September, playing the final two minutes.

"To have that moment and to get two appearances was amazing," the 25-year-old said.

"My parents, my girlfriend and my brother came over [for the game].

"It was nice to have them there.

I've got so much to thank my parents for, I wouldn't be in this position today if it wasn't for all the sacrifices they made."

Bagan won eight caps for the Republic of Ireland Under-21s between 2021 and 2022 and admits he did fear his chance of full senior honours had passed him by.

"I had to wait a few years," he added.

"The longer it goes on, you don't forget about it, but you start to think maybe.

"I just had think about playing at Cardiff regularly and trying to perform well.

"But it's something that I've always wanted to to do before I finished my career.

"So to finally get there, it was a big thing."

Ireland go to Austria on 14 November before hosting Kosovo in Dublin three days later in their final two Nations League fixtures still with a chance of securing promotion to League A.

Bagan is targeting more caps with another major tournament on the horizon.

"I've had a taste for it now, I've been once, but I want it to be a more regular thing.

"Hopefully I can get back into the squad for next month

"This is probably the best time to try and stay in the squad with Euro 2028 coming up.

"Hopefully it'll be exciting times ahead."

Image source, Getty Images

Cardiff City boss Brian Barry-Murphy has rekindled his association with Craig Samson by recruiting him as the Bluebirds' new goalkeeping coach.

Samson, 42, worked briefly under Barry-Murphy at Rochdale in 2020.

He has since worked at Hibernian and Aberdeen, leaving the former after a second stint ended in September.

Cardiff have not had anyone in the role since Gavin Ward left after his two-year spell in May.

Image source, Opta

Middlesbrough will seek to go top of the Championship, for a few hours at least, as they welcome Cardiff to the Riverside on Saturday (12:30 BST).

Boro overcame Wolves at home last Saturday before a last-gasp 3-2 win at Stoke to sit second, two points behind Swansea, who face third-placed West Ham at 15:00 BST.

The Bluebirds are 19th, two points above the drop zone, after winning two of their past three games, thumping Watford 5-1 at home on Tuesday night, but have lost their past four games on the road.

• Middlesbrough have only lost one of their past 10 league games against Cardiff City (W6 D3), a 2-3 home defeat in September 2022.

• Cardiff have lost four of their past five league meetings with Middlesbrough, although did draw 1-1 at the Riverside most recently in January 2025.

• For the second season in succession, Middlesbrough find themselves on exactly 21 points after their opening 10 games of a campaign, matching their best start since 1995-96.

• Cardiff have won two of their past three Championship matches (L1), as many victories as across their prior 24 combined in the second tier (D11 L11).

• This season across all competitions, Middlesbrough's Will Lankshear has struck 10 goals, one of only two players to hit double figures for a side in England's top four tiers, alongside Manchester City's Erling Haaland (also 10).

Cardiff boss Brian Barry-Murphy previews Cardiff's test at promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Cardiff City will be without both Dylan Lawlor and Rubin Colwill for Saturday's trip to Middlesbrough.

Defender Lawlor was forced off early in Tuesday's win against Watford with a hamstring injury.

It came just three days after the 20-year-old centre-back had made his first start of the season, having recovered from a knee problem picked up on Wales duty in June.

Lawlor - who missed all four of Wales' October Nations League games - is due to have a scan on Friday to discover the full extent of the injury, and with just four weeks to go until the final two international fixtures of the year, there are fears Lawlor could still be on the sidelines when Wales face Norway on 14 November and for Portugal's visit to Cardiff three days later.

Midfielder Colwill has missed the past five matches with an ankle problem and will remain unavailable this weekend.

Striker Yousef Salech is in contention to return while defender Krystian Bielik is back after serving a two game ban following his controversial altercation with a Portsmouth fan during their Championship match at Fratton Park in September.

Cardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy delivers his assessment of the Bluebirds' 5-1 win over Watford.