Bamba ruled out, but Peltier boost for Cardiff

SOL Bamba is unlikely to play for Cardiff City again this season, Neil Warnock has confirmed.

The Ivorian injured his groin during the Bluebirds’ 0-0 draw at Barnsley last week and will miss the Easter weekend clashes against Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest.

The former Leeds United captain has been a stand-out performer in the Cardiff back four this season, and is a leading contender for the club’s Player of the Season award.

Bruno Manga is likely to continue alongside Sean Morrison in his absence.

“We’ve assessed Bamba and I think he’ll be out for the season now,” said Warnock at his pre-match press conference. “He did train but not fully. The only chance will be the last couple of games of the season, if any chance at all.

“The physio has seen his groin problem before and at first we thought it might be months, but it’s better than we thought.

“He’s not doing full training and it’s unlikely that he’ll play again this season.”

There was better injury news concerning Lee Peltier, who should feature this weekend after a long lay-off.

Peltier required an ankle operation that looked to have sidelined him for the campaign, but Warnock confirmed the full back was chomping at the bit to return to action.

“Peltier is training really well and I’m toying with the idea of using him tomorrow,” admitted Warnock.

“But I’ve got to be careful because I don’t want to risk anything.

“He had an operation and one large bit of bone was removed.

“He must have been in agony but it’s good to see him back and raring to go.

“He’ll definitely be available for Monday if not for (Sheffield Wednesday).”

Warnock confirmed the Bluebirds boasted an otherwise clean bill of health – barring the long-term absence of Rhys Healey.

Fellow striker Rickie Lambert is back to full fitness and ready to make an impact from the bench if called upon.

“Rickie is available for selection, but I’m not picking him,” Warnock added.

“At the moment, it’s (Kenneth Zohore’s) shirt and I don’t see anybody taking it off him.

“Rickie is training well and we didn’t use him last weekend because I wanted someone to run into the channels so I put (Anthony) Pilkington on.

“That’s not Rickie’s game, but he will be in the squad for Hillsborough tomorrow.

“We are looking at that area, as well as a few others to strengthen in the summer.”