MATCH PANEL
CARDIFF City will have to fill two sizeable holes in their forward line against Nottingham Forest tonight with both Lee Tomlin and Albert Adomah missing.
As we know, Tomlin is set to miss up to eight weeks owing to a knee injury he sustained in training last week, but it will be a double blow being without Adomah.
The Ghanaian winger has added real impetus to the Bluebirds attacking ranks since joining on loan on deadline day last month and has been an instant hit among fans. But he will be ineligible to play tonight, given the game is against his parent club.
It means Neil Harris has the unenviable task of replacing both Tomlin and Adomah in the starting XI, with the Bluebirds desperately needing a win after their play-off hopes took a hit in defeat by Stoke City last weekend.
How Harris sets up his side tonight will be very interesting. He opted for Callum Paterson in behind Danny Ward at the bet365 Stadium, but the gamble didn’t pay off.
It is likely we will see the return of Paterson up front, a position in which he has thrived in recent months, with Joe Ralls potentially slotting into a more advanced midfield role, ahead of the established Marlon Pack and Will Vaulks partnership.
Gavin Whyte is expected to slot in with Adomah unavailable in a like-for-like replacement.
The other area of intrigue is at full back. Both Joe Bennett and Jazz Richards have racked up the minutes in recent weeks and are perhaps in need of rotation, with games now coming thick and fast.
January signings Dion Sanderson and Brad Smith are both yet to feature for the Bluebirds, however that could certainly change this week.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Isaac Vassell and Matthew Connolly are the long-term absentees.
Cardiff City predicted XI: Smithies; Sanderson, Nelson, Morrison, Bennett; Pack, Vaulks, Ralls; Whyte, Paterson, Murphy
For tonight’s visitors, meanwhile, there are doubts over Samba Sow (knee), Sammy Ameobi (hips) and Lewis Grabban (knee), who has been in incredible goalscoring form this season with 16 in all competitions.
Nuno da Costa will definitely miss the clash with a muscle injury, too.