KEY TO CITY’S GLORY BID?
CARDIFF City’s full squad gave Greg Cunningham a standing ovation after he completed his first full week of training, Neil Harris has revealed.
The left back’s road to recovery since he sustained an ACL tear in October while on loan at Blackburn Rovers has been arduous and laborious, but this week represented a major step on his road to full fitness.
He recently spoke about having the bit between his teeth and wanting to prove his detractors wrong once he is fully rehabilitated.
While Harris previously predicted that Cunningham might be ready only for pre-season, having the Irishman back in full training perhaps points towards him having some involvement in the final nine fixtures of the current campaign.
And, with Cunningham clearly a popular member of the squad, every Bluebird applauded his return at their Vale HQ this week in acknowledgement of his hard graft in recent months.
“Greg is pretty much back in full training, so that’s a real positive,” Harris said ahead of the fixture with Leeds United this Sunday.
“It’s great to get him back in the group. He did his first full training session with us on Tuesday and he got the usual reaction from me.
“I bring all the players in and make a point of mentioning it to everybody and he gets a standing ovation from everybody in the group.
“He’s been out a heck of a long time and it’s a tough road he’s been through.
“That was good, that was nice to see.”
Other players fighting for the leftback position, of course, are Joe Bennett and Brad Smith, the Australia international who was brought in on loan from Bournemouth back in January.
Smith has not played a single minute as yet and the returning Cunningham will provide him with further competition for that spot.
While fans might wonder when we will see Smith in a City shirt, Harris said having the player around has only served to ignite the fire in Bennett once again.
“He’s been great since he’s come into the building, competing against Joe Bennett, who we know is an exceptional full back at this level,” Harris said of Smith.
“They will fight for that jersey until the end of the current campaign.
“After that, we will have to see what happens in the future.
“But at the moment, Brad is really focused, really enjoying it here, been great with the lads, have a lot of time for him.
“He has been great since he came in, to be honest, but Joe Bennett’s form – he’s been a consistent player for a long time – since Brad came in and added the competition, I thought
Benno took his stock up another level.”
City have a few ‘niggles,’ as Harris called them, in their squad ahead of the visit of Marcelo Bielsa’s side, but refused to disclose the severity of them in his pre-match press conference.
It appears, though, that Cardiff do indeed have a largely full squad to choose from, save Jazz Richards, Isaac Vassell and potentially Cunningham, given he has only just returned, which is a real boost for the manager.