By Joe Smith
Cardiff City will be aiming to put further daylight between themselves and the Championship relegation zone when they entertain Blackpool on Saturday afternoon.
Steve Morison’s Bluebirds currently sit 19th and 14 points off the drop zone following an impressive four wins from five matches.
Their last victory was on Tuesday night when they downed Coventry City 2-0 with goals from Joel Bagan and Mark Harris.
Cardiff hold an impressive record against Blackpool, winning four of their last five meetings and won 2-0 at Bloomfield Road in August.
Blackpool meanwhile have only won three times away from home since promotion from League One last year, their last success on the road coming against Sheffield United back in October.
Boss Neil Critchley described football as a “cruel game” last week after the Tangerines led 1-0 against promotion hopefuls Bournemouth only to concede in the 85th and 95th minutes to go down 2-1, ending a run of six games unbeaten.
We could see some changes to the Bluebirds team this weekend with Isaak Davies and Max Watters at risk of being dropped from the team, fresh January signings Jordan Hugill and Uche Ikpeazu most likely to replace the pair.
However, Mark Harris is also in line for a possible opportunity after scoring from off the bench against Coventry.
Rubin Colwill is a major doubt for the tie as a foot injury ruled him out of the midweek victory.
Blackpool on the other hand suffered a major blow with Marvin Ekpiteta being forced off the field against Bournemouth with a hamstring injury.
Ekpiteta’s centre-back partner Richard Keogh is also side-lined with a calf issue which means Oliver Casey could potentially make his first Championship start in the back line.
In the Tangerines’ midfield Kenny Dougal is in contention to be back in the starting XI after being dropped last time out.