Cardiff City

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Former Cardiff City defender Danny Gabbidon hopes head coach Brian Barry-Murphy will be given the necessary funds to strengthen his squad ahead of the Bluebirds return to the Championship.

Cardiff secured promotion to the Championship 12 months after they were relegated with a 3-1 win away to Reading.

"I think the manager probably deserves that right in the summer to get a bit of money to strengthen the squad so they're competitive next season," Gabbidon said

"It's going to be a big summer for the club and they've got to continue to get that decision-making right.

"The Championship is a different kettle of fish.

"I think, particularly for the young players, having opportunities to play at League One level has been brilliant for their development.

"But that step up is quite big into the Championship and, for sure, there will probably have to be tweaks to the squad.

"Maybe a little bit more experience coming in.

"You hope that the young players, with a year of experience at this level, can kind of kick on at Championship level and develop further, which I'm sure a lot of them will."

Gabbidon, who had two spells with Cardiff and served briefly as interim manager in 2014, was full of praise for Barry-Murphy.

Barry-Murphy, 47, who previously managed Rochdale as well as a coach at Manchester City's academy and Leicester City first team coach, was appointed last summer following Cardiff's relegation from the Championship.

"He's been brilliant," Gabbidon told BBC Sport Wales.

"I think you look at the difficulties that Cardiff had in the summer, obviously getting relegated and looking to try and find a new manager.

"That hasn't always gone well for the club over the last few seasons, but I think they've been spot on with the appointment.

"He's just taken to the job like a duck to water, really.

"I think you look at the way the team has performed this season, that's probably what has impressed me the most.

"The amount of young players that have been given opportunities, a lot of young players playing at this level for the first time.

"I think the managers have got that balance right of youth and experience in the team.

"They've been really enjoyable to watch, they really have. That's probably been the thing that's impressed me most this season.

"It's a little bit disappointing to be leading the league for maybe so long - obviously Lincoln, you have to give credit to them.

"They've been on a fantastic run and I think that will maybe disappoint the players a little bit.

"But the main aim at the start of the season was to bounce back straight away and get back into the Championship, first time of asking."

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Captain Calum Chambers looks set to miss Cardiff City's final four games of the season with a wrist injury.

The 31-year-old former Arsenal defender sustained the injury during the 1-1 draw at Peterborough United earlier this month.

There is better news for fellow centre-back Dylan Lawlor, who is managing a toe injury and could feature in Saturday's trip to Reading, where Cardiff, who are second in League One, could seal automatic promotion.

"I think he's got a sore toe. It wasn't possible for him to finish the game on Tuesday [1-1 draw at Huddersfield Town], but fingers crossed he'll be OK," said head coach Brian Barry-Murphy.

"Calum Chambers has damaged his wrist. He's definitely out, and no definite date on his return. I think he's going to be out for a while. He's been assessed in terms of the extent of his damage in his wrist."

Cian Ashford will also miss the Reading game with a back injury but fellow forward Isaak Davies is back in training and nearing a return following a hamstring injury.

Abigail Cole

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Cardiff City forward Omari Kellyman says the Bluebirds are determined to take care of promotion on their own terms, with promotion possible as soon as Wednesday.

Last weekend the 20-year-old opened the scoring at Cardiff City Stadium as Brian Barry-Murphy's side ended a three-match home run without a win - or a goal - with a 2-0 victory against Bolton Wanderers.

Saturday's results were significant in the League One promotion race as Cardiff returned to winning ways and third-place Bradford City lost 1-0 at home to Stevenage.

Victory over Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night, coupled with Stockport dropping points against AFC Wimbledon the following night, would see the Bluebirds make an instant return to the Championship.

But while promotion could be confirmed on Wednesday, Kellyman said the squad are solely focused on themselves and not interested in help from others.

"We're not looking for anybody to help us out. We can go and get the job done ourselves," said Kellyman.

"We know what we need to do and the sooner we can get the job done, the better."

Cardiff had dominated games in recent weeks without winning, but Kellyman - who is on loan from Chelsea - felt returning to winning ways was inevitable with the chances the Bluebirds were creating.

"Obviously we felt like it's been a long time coming," he said.

"Our performances in games and the scorelines don't really reflect each other too well in recent times, but when the first goal goes in, we sort of know that we've got them now."

Kellyman said Cardiff never lost belief against Bolton despite being held goalless until his 50th minute opener.

"When we've got all those chances, we know one of them is bound to go in at some point," he added.

"I wasn't concerned at all. I knew one was going to come and one was going to go in regardless of who it landed to."

The win was a timely one in the promotion race, with Cardiff restoring momentum and Bradford losing for a second time in four games.

Kellyman also said the return of top scorer Yousef Salech - who missed more than two months with a neck injury - has restored an important attacking presence for Cardiff.

"Yousef's a clinical striker and for a large part of the season he was our focal point in attack," Kellyman said.

"Seeing him come back is a big confidence boost for us because he's a goalscorer. Him coming back offers us that extra option and threat up front."

Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales

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Cardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy was delighted his team were finally able to turn their domination into victory as they beat promotion rivals Bolton Wanderers.

The Bluebirds won 2-0 on Saturday, ending a three-match winless and goalless run at home, and a poor sequence of results overall which had yielded only two victories from eight games.

Second-place Cardiff moved 10 points clear of Bradford City in third, with Bolton manager Steven Schumacher admitting defeat had ended their automatic promotion hopes as they are now 11 points adrift of the Welsh side having played a game more.

Cardiff had bossed many of their recent games but a lack of cutting edge in the final third meant they had lost three and drawn three of their previous eight fixtures.

They corrected that with a convincing win over Bolton, with Omari Kellyman and Chris Willock scoring second-half goals.

"It's an incredible feeling. We had real awareness that our home results in the past few games haven't been what we wanted," said Barry-Murphy.

"To see the supporters return in such numbers today and give everybody ultimately what they wanted and craved is huge for us.

"I think we haven't been clinical enough in games previously. Today is a brilliant day for us, and we still could and should have scored more."

Next for Cardiff is a trip to Huddersfield Town on Tuesday. Victory in Yorkshire coupled with a defeat for Bradford at home to Stevenage on Saturday, and Stockport County dropping points at Wimbledon on Wednesday, would see the Bluebirds promoted on Wednesday.

Regardless of results elsewhere, Cardiff can guarantee promotion for themselves if they win at Huddersfield and at Reading the following Saturday.

Barry-Murphy's men still have three games to get the job done after the trip to Berkshire next weekend.

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Former Cardiff City boss Omer Riza has joined Italian second-tier side Cesena as an assistant coach to Ashley Cole.

Riza, 46, has been out of work since he was sacked by Cardiff last season, which ended with the club being relegated from the Championship.

Former Arsenal, Chelsea and England defender Cole was appointed Cesena manager last month.

The 45-year-old came through the Arsenal youth ranks at the same time as Riza, who spent a year at Cardiff, first as an assistant to Erol Bulut and then as head coach.

The former Watford coach shared a post on social media from his management team, which read: "Omer Riza has been appointed assistant head coach at Cesena FC - working alongside Ashley Cole in Serie B.

"From Arsenal's youth pitches to the England set-up. From the Championship dugout at Cardiff City to Italian football. The game rewards those who stay ready."

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Alex Robertson's sumptuous strike in Cardiff City's win at Exeter City has been nominated for the League One Goal of the Month award for March.

The midfielder rounded off a slick team move in style as the Bluebirds defeated the Grecians 4-0 at St James Park on 14 March.

Doncaster Rovers' Elliot Lee, on loan from Wrexham, Burton Albion's George Evans and Reading's Kamari Doyle are the other nominees for the award.

The winner - decided by fans and a judging panel - will be announced at 10:00 BST on Friday, 17 April.