CARDIFF v RAMS BIG MATCH PANEL
What time is Cardiff City v Derby County kick-off? 7pm tonight. Is it on TV?
Yes. The game will be on the red button on Sky Sports.
What about live streaming? Cardiff City will be streaming the game live on their website and match passes for those viewing in the UK can be bought here for £10.
You can also follow all the action on WalesOnline’s live blog from around 5pm.
What are the odds?
Cardiff win: 11/10
Draw: 11/5
Derby County: 13/5
(Odds via The Pools and correct at the time of publication) What’s the team news?
Cardiff City will hope to go into this match with a clean bill of health following the quick turnaround, however we can expect some changes.
McCarthy named an unchanged XI for the fifth consecutive match against Middlesbrough and the Bluebirds just looked a little leggy as the game wore on.
But with Joe Ralls and Junior Hoilett having been restored to the bench up on Teesside, McCarthy now has a strong squad to choose from and we could see some rotation for the first time in a while.
Lee Tomlin continues to step up his fitness levels, having turned out for his third consecutive under-23s match on Monday afternoon. First-team involvement won’t be too far away for him, however Tuesday night’s meeting with Derby will be too soon. Interestingly, both Max Watters and Ciaron Brown played for the under-23s, too, making it unlikely they will feature against the Rams.
Jordi Osei-Tutu is still on track to return to Cardiff next week after recovering from his awful hamstring injury.
As for the Rams, they are sweating on the fitness of goalkeeper and former Bluebirds hero David Marshall, who hurt his back against Nottingham Forest on Friday night. He will undergo a late assessment.
Curtis Davies (Achilles) and Krystian Bielik (torn knee ligament) will also be missing for the visitors, while ex-Cardiff City player Tom Lawrence is also absent with an ankle injury. What has Mick McCarthy said? “I never thought in a million years we would go three draws – especially when we were two down at Barnsley – and six wins.
“They fought back in that game, and against Millwall, we have got a good team spirit and work ethic. We went on a six-game winning streak which is wonderful, but do you ever think that’s going to happen? Probably not, but you hope it does.
“We have consolidated that with a well-earned point at Middlesbrough, having played Wednesday night away from home.”