Lawlor subbed as precaution at Blackburn

Brian Barry-Murphy revealed he subbed Dylan Lawlor at Blackburn Rovers as he did not want to risk the young defender after he felt soreness in his knee.

Lawlor got his first start in Cardiff's 2-1 defeat to Blackburn, having missed the first 10 games of the season due to a knee injury suffered while playing for Wales.

The 20-year-old managed 78 minutes at Ewood Park before being replaced by Calum Scanlon as a precaution.

"He was a bit sore on his knee, and we only had one more stoppage left to make changes," said boss Barry-Murphy.

"I didn't want to leave him on in case he had to come off. We made the changes in that situation so that we would not be left with 10 men.

"Dylan is a great lad, a great player, and he will improve a lot from today."

Cardiff will hope that Lawlor can shake off any fitness issues ahead of Tuesday evening's meeting with Watford at Cardiff City Stadium.

Summer signing Krystian Bielik will serve the last of his two-game ban during the week, while Will Fish could feature after being named in the team at Blackburn.

Fish has not featured for Cardiff at all this season, having been in recovery after a hernia injury.