NO GIFT OF THE GAB FOR BRUNO

CARDIFF City boss Russell Slade was left scratching his head after centre-back Bruno Manga sustained a groin injury on international duty with Gabon.

The defender, 27, could be out for two months after picking up the injury in training between matches while away with his country.

But Slade revealed that finding out exactly how the injury had come about was proving difficult.

“It’s a groin strain,” he said.“It’s very difficult, we have had no control over it. We are trying to find out how he did it.

“We could help them if we could get information but we don’t seem to get dialogue with them.”

Warnock, who led QPR to the Premier League in 2011, has been invited back to Loftus Road as a ‘first-team advisor’ on a part-time basis following the club’s topsyturvy start to life after relegation.

But Warnock’s appointment has been backed by Ramsey, who believes Paul Caddis’ second-half penalty winner should never have been awarded after Nedum Onuoha and Clayton Donaldson collided in the box.

“It was my choice to bring in Neil. He has a wealth of experience and will add to our backroom staff,” said Ramsey.

“I don’t see him as a threat – I don’t think he wants to be a manager any more.

“As for the penalty, they both jumped for the ball in the area and there weren’t any appeals. It’s not a penalty and the referee won’t look back on it as one of his best games. I thought we deserved a point and both sides would have been happy with that.

“The fans are always entitled to their point of view.”

His Birmingham counterpart Gary Rowett got a rich return from one of his former Burton stars Jacques Maghoma to ensure they didn’t miss injured David Cotterill.

He combined with the elusive Demarai Gray to provide the sort of wing threat that has characterised his side’s charge towards the Championship summit.

Birmingham deserved their victory for upping the second-half temperature against a niggly Rangers side.

Fortune initially favoured the enterprising as Rangers took a 17th-minute lead with their first moment of menace.

Matt Phillips turned an innocuous Onuoha lob into danger by controlling, turning and blasting a left footer towards Tomasz Kuszczak’s near post. But it was an involuntary nick off the head of Jonathan Grounds that wrongfooted the Polish goalkeeper.

Blues, who’d earlier seen Robert Green do well to cling onto a fierce Gray shot, equalised after James Perch had seen yellow for a bad foul on Maghoma. Gray arrowed the free-kick onto the head of defender Paul Robinson who duly found the net.

Tjaronn Chery tested Kuszczak from a long-range free-kick and Gray flashed an equally optimistic shot wide as the half ended even.

There was more tempo to the home side’s game after the break with Donaldson just unable to turn in a Caddis cross and Gray twice denied by Rangers putting bodies on the line inside their box.

The breakthrough was a touch soft as Donaldson crumbled under Onuoha’s challenge and Caddis emphatically drove in the 63rd-minute spot kick.

With Jay Emmanuel-Thomas struggling up front, another longrange blast from Chery was the closest the visitors came to an equaliser.

Rowett said: “I was delighted the penalty was given – you can read into that what you wish.

“But we deserved it for our overall performance. To beat a team that was in the Premier League last season and limit them to very few opportunities is an outstanding performance.

“Maghoma has worked hard to get back to this level and he showed why Hamburg once bid £1m for him.

“I’m still managing expectations at this club but, looking at the table, there’s not too much higher we can go.

“My aim is to improve still further – that’s the challenge but it’s going to be very difficult.”