Cardiff City

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Craig Bellamy has praised Cardiff City centre-back Dylan Lawlor for his "outstanding" performance in Wales' World Cup play-off semi-final defeat against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Wales lost in a penalty shootout on Thursday, having drawn 1-1 after extra time at Cardiff City Stadium.

Lawlor, 20, was up against a player twice his age in the form of Bosnia's captain and goalscorer, 40-year-old former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko.

Dzeko, who is 6ft 4in, was one of several physically imposing forwards Bosnia had on the pitch as they chased an equaliser late in normal time.

But Lawlor stood his ground impressively, further enhancing his burgeoning reputation in only his fourth appearance for Wales.

"I liked how robust he was and how he could stand up to a challenge, which is always difficult for young players coming in," said Wales head coach Bellamy.

"I liked how he used his body, how he was able to step onto things. We know his ability with the ball, it's clear for everyone to see.

"Give him the ball and he can develop and commit the game but, off the ball and in duels, I thought he was really exceptional against some really big, physical players. He was outstanding."

Wales' defeat means they miss out on a play-off final against Italy and will instead host Northern Ireland in a friendly on Tuesday night.

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Cardiff City legend Nathan Blake believes the Bluebirds are "too good" to fall in to the League One play-offs, but has warned against complacency.

Brian Barry-Murphy's side drew 0-0 at home to Blackpool on Saturday, but are still in the automatic promotion places with seven games remaining.

Cardiff are seven points adrift of leaders Lincoln City but are still 11 clear of third-place Bolton Wanderers.

The Blackpool result was met with boos from some Cardiff City fans yet Blake still feels the club are well placed for promotion.

"Fans are well within their right to come and clear their frustrations of what they're seeing," said Blake.

"They just don't want to see Cardiff get caught and end up getting into the play-offs. I don't think that will happen, Cardiff are too good to fall in to that situation, but I would warn against Cardiff being complacent and make sure they start games at a higher tempo.

"A lot of fans I'm hearing are frustrated with the style of football, but I don't think that's necessarily the problem. The style of football is fine.

"Cardiff, at times, are not playing what they were playing earlier on in the season. They're not doing it at the same sort of tempo."

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We asked Cardiff City fans for their views on the club's recent form and the end of season run-in.

The Bluebirds' latest League One result, a 0-0 draw with Blackpool, was met with boos by some fans at the Cardiff City Stadium.

With seven games to go of the regular season, will Brian Barry-Murphy's side still maintain their place in the automatic promotion places?

Here are some of the responses we received:

Alun: Their recent home form is worrying, if I said it wasn't I'd be lying. When you see Lincoln's incredible form, despite the pressure, it intensifies those concerns. However, I love this CCFC team and I have faith that, together with our fantastic head coach, we will cross the line for automatic promotion.

Stuart: Can not believe the boos at full time. Was it a great performance? No, but Blackpool came to do a job, and did it well. This City team has given us more joy in the last eight months than we have had in six years. Yes, we've had a bit of blip, but it's such a young side we were always going to at some point. Last time I checked, we're eleven points clear of third, with seven games to go.

Delwyn: If the thinking is that the gap between us and Lincoln is too big, then we have to think the gap between us and Bolton is also.

Tom: You'd not have heard a boo from me at the end - BBM and his team have done us proud this season. I have every confidence we'll get the job done in April. Already looking forward to the trip to the Posh.

Ian: You cannot pass the ball into the net. Feed the runners. Cross the ball don't stop on the wing then go backwards, it's the forwards job to be on the end of the cross. Apart from that I think this group of players could easily win two promotions. That's it. Everything off my chest.

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Cardiff City's bid to win automatic promotion back to the Championship suffered another setback at the weekend as they were held to a goaless draw at home to Blackpool.

The Bluebirds remain second in League One, but are now seven points adrift of leaders Lincoln City.

They also missed the opportunity to put more daylight between themselves and Bolton Wanderers and Bradford City who also tasted defeat.

With seven games to go of the regular season, is Cardiff's latest run of form giving you cause for concern, or do you still think they have enough quality to finish in the top two?

Let us know your views by clicking here.

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Brian Barry-Murphy says some of his players will turn to supporting their team-mates when Wales host Bosnia-Herzegovina in their World Cup qualifying semi-final play-off on Thursday at Cardiff City Stadium (19:45 GMT).

Former Bluebird Craig Bellamy's squad includes Cardiff defenders Dylan Lawlor, and Ronan Kpakio along with midfield brothers Rubin and Joel Colwill.

"A lot of lads will attend the game on Thursday. It's a big game for all of us, in so many ways, because so many of our players are hopefully going to be involved," said Cardiff boss Barry-Murphy.

If Wales win that, they will face either Italy or Northern Ireland on Tuesday, 31 March at the same venue.

Beyond the international break, Cardiff resume their seven-game League One promotion challenge run-in at Peterborough on Monday, 6 April before hosting Bolton Wanderers the following Saturday.

In the meantime, striker Yousef Salech, whose absence has coincided with a dip in Cardiff's success in front of goal, will progress his recovery from a neck injury suffered on 24 January as he begins a return to training.

Barry-Murphy is also set to welcome Isaak Davies back during the international break after the Wales forward was concussed in Cardiff's 3-0 win at Rotherham United on 7 February.

Barry-Murphy said: "We are just going to just continue to train as normal... and start to prepare for the next fixtures."

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Cardiff City host Blackpool on Saturday (12:30 GMT) with Brian Barry-Murphy adamant his team are in good shape despite their recent dip in form.

With the finishing line looming into view, Cardiff are enduring their trickiest run of a fine season having taken only seven points from their past six League One games.

But the Bluebirds, in second, remain a healthy 10 points clear of third-placed Bolton Wanderers in the race for automatic promotion.

And despite a midweek home loss to Wycombe Wanderers – when Cardiff had Gabriel Osho sent off before half-time – Barry-Murphy is in confident mood.

"The squad is in a really good place physically. We played Exeter [last weekend] and for large parts it was our most dominant physical performance, so the lads are in a great place," the Cardiff boss said.

"Tuesday night [against Wycombe], the way the game goes, we play with 10 men for such a long period, meaning the result is what it is.

"But physically the lads looked brilliant and I couldn't be happier with them. We will now try to show again that we can win and play really well."

Having been formidable on their own patch for the majority of the season, Cardiff have suffered back-to-back home losses.

They have the chance to make amends as they take on a relegation-threatened Blackpool side who beat Barry-Murphy's team at Bloomfield Road earlier in the season.

"I think we have been so good for so long at home that whenever you do lose a game it seems not normal," he added.

"There were spells last season I am sure where you couldn't win a game at home and it becomes normal.

"The new normal these players have created is that we are brilliant at home, play great football and win games, but we can never take that for granted. We have to fight to try to play well and win [against Blackpool]."

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Omari Kellyman has welcomed the imminent return of Yousef Salech – even if it could spell the end of his time as a makeshift striker.

Salech is set to make his Cardiff City comeback after two months out injured when the Bluebirds return to action after the upcoming international break.

In Salech's absence, on-loan Chelsea youngster Kellyman has regularly been deployed up front by Brian Barry-Murphy.

And despite being more used to operating as an attacking midfielder, the 20-year-old has responded by scoring five goals in his past 10 appearances.

"It has been a different challenge but it's definitely one that I have been enjoying," Kellyman said.

"It's a more physical position. You have seen Yousef do it throughout the season, the fights he gets into with centre-halves.

"But I will play wherever Bri [Barry-Murphy] tells me to. I just want to be on the pitch and help in any way I can."

Salech has not played since being carried off with a neck injury during Cardiff's draw with Stockport on 24 January.

Despite his lay-off, the powerful Dane remains Cardiff's top scorer this season with 13 goals.

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Kellyman says it is up to Barry-Murphy to decide what role he will play when Salech returns to the Cardiff frontline.

"I am sure whatever he chooses to do will be the right thing," he added.

"Yousef is a goalscorer so if we can have him on the pitch scoring the goals that would be great. Then we just need the players behind him to give him the service."

Kellyman could again lead the line when Cardiff look to respond to their midweek defeat to Wycombe when they host Blackpool on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

Barry-Murphy's side are five points behind League One leaders Lincoln City having lost three of their past six games, but Kellyman insists there is no panic in the dressing room.

"One thing that's stayed consistent throughout the season is that we know what we are capable of," he said.

"We know we are not going to get results all the time, but we have proved multiple times throughout the season that what we do works.

"Hopefully a win [against Blackpool] can put us another step in the right direction and carry us into a little bit of form."

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Former Wales striker Iwan Roberts says Cardiff City are on course to achieve their goal for the season despite a dip in results hitting their League One title hopes.

Cardiff have led the way in the third tier for much of the season, but have been surpassed by Lincoln City having won only two of their past six league games.

With eight games remaining this season, the second-placed Bluebirds trail Lincoln by five points – but remain 10 points clear of Bolton Wanderers in third.

Roberts says that while it would be "great if they could win the league", Cardiff should be happy with either automatic promotion spot.

"The main objective before the first game of the season was to bounce back to the Championship, however they did it," he told this week's Feast of Football podcast.

"They are in a great position. They are five points behind Lincoln who got a 93rd-minute equaliser at Huddersfield [in midweek].

"Bradford only drew, Stockport won but they are not going to catch Cardiff, Bolton drew. It's still in their hands."

After Tuesday's home loss to Wycombe Wanderers, Cardiff have the chance to bounce back when they host relegation-threatened Blackpool on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

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Cardiff City's Dylan Lawlor has won February's League One goal of the month award for his sublime solo effort against Doncaster Rovers.

The defender carried the ball 70 yards, beating three Doncaster players in doing so, before notching up his second goal of the campaign in a 4-0 win at the Eco-Power Stadium on 28 February.

Discussing his goal, the Wales international said: "It was the best goal to date in my career.

"It just opened up for me. I took on the first man, and fair play to the boys around me for making the right runs. I couldn't not shoot at the end.

"There's no feeling like any goal, but when it's one like that, where you've run 70 yards, it's an unbelievable feeling. The adrenalin rush when you run off to celebrate is incredible."

Lawlor beat Bluebirds team-mate Perry Ng, Barnsley's David McGoldrick and Wycombe Wanderers' Caolan Boyd-Munce to the award.

Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman, the leading judge in the competition, said: "Dylan Lawlor scored the standout goal in League One last month.

"He picked up the ball on the edge of his own box and burst through the heart of the Doncaster midfield before continuing his run and calmly slotting past the keeper.

"His run was all about pace, power, balance and finesse, and it was capped off with incredible composure and a deft finish."

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Wales international Sam Vokes insists there is no need for concern at Cardiff City as they bid to avoid the "catastrophe" which would be missing out on automatic promotion.

Cardiff are in the midst of their trickiest run of the season after a home defeat to Wycombe Wanderers in midweek, their third loss in six matches.

Having led the way in League One for much of the season, Brian Barry-Murphy's team are now five points adrift of Lincoln City in second place.

But with 10 points separating the Bluebirds and third-placed Bolton Wanderers, Vokes reckons Barry-Murphy's men will get over the line.

"I think we expect them to go up," he told this week's Feast of Football podcast.

"After the season they have had, it would be a catastrophe if they fell out of it. I don't see that happening at all.

"Cardiff are the biggest team at that level. The football they have played this year has been probably without doubt the best in the league.

"Dropping points [against Wycombe] is a bump in the road but I expect a full reaction come the weekend at home to Blackpool."

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Cardiff City's Good Friday fixture at home to Port Vale has been moved to Wednesday, 22 April [19:45 BST] due to Vale's progress in the FA Cup.

The Bluebirds were set to take on the Valiants on Friday, 3 April but the League One strugglers will now travel to Premier League giants Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, 4 April.

Vale are bottom of League One but have impressed in the FA Cup this season, reaching the quarter-finals for only the second time in their history - their previous appearance in the last-eight was 72 years ago in 1954.

Brian Barry-Murphy's side, who are currently second in League One, will be hoping for all three points this time having shared the spoils when the sides when they met at Vale Park in August.

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Former Cardiff City captain Jason Perry says he believes the Bluebirds are missing injured top goalscorer Yousef Salech.

The striker sustained a neck injury in a collision with Stockport County's Brad Hill on 24 January and has not appeared on the pitch since.

Perry believes City have missed their striker in recent weeks and especially in last night's 2-0 defeat at home to Wycombe.

"Wycombe deserved the three points, I thought they were very disciplined and clever, their game plan was executed well," Perry said.

"Cardiff being without a striker like Salech does make me slightly concerned.

"The sooner they can get him back the better, because at the moment they look like they're missing him."

Despite an initial positive run after the striker's injury, Brian Barry-Murphy's side have stumbled of late, losing three of their past six league games.

Omari Kellyman has been deployed as a false nine in recent weeks instead of a striker, which Perry believes has cost Cardiff.

"I think teams are working out Cardiff with their false nine," said Perry.

"And for that reason they're coming here, holding and keeping their ground and then beating Cardiff on the break."

The Bluebirds have lost their grip on first place but are still in a strong position for automatic promotion as they sit 10 points clear of Bolton Wanderers in third.

Perry has also questioned some of Barry-Murphy's decisions after he decided not to put on a central defender after Gabriel Osho's 43rd-minute red card.

"Wintle dropped into centre-half and I was trying to work out why, because you've got Callum Chambers who also plays there on the bench," said Perry

"The second goal from Woodrow is because he's not positioned himself where a centre-half naturally would, so the ball is headed back across the six-yard box and I'm sure Chambers would have just headed it out.

"For the first time I'm maybe disagreeing with the substitutions Barry-Murphy has made. But he's been on it with them so many times this seasons, so I think you just have to say well done to Wycombe."

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Michael Duff savoured his return to south Wales having lost on his previous visit to the Cardiff City Stadium when in charge at Swansea City.

Duff's Swansea side were jeered by the travelling fans after a 2-0 loss in the Welsh capital in September 2023.

The visitors' miserable display that day was one of the lowest points during Duff's disappointing spell as Swans boss.

But it was a different story for the former Burnley defender on Tuesday as his Wycombe Wanderers team beat the Bluebirds 2-0.

"It's fair to say I enjoyed this one a little bit more than the last time I was here," Duff said.

"I got stuck in the car park last time as well… Cardiff is a big football club and I have a lot of respect for them."

Wycombe's victory saw second-placed Cardiff lose ground on League One leaders Lincoln City.

The Chairboys, meanwhile, are two points outside the play-off places in ninth after late goals from Andre Vidigal and Cauley Woodrow sealed victory over a Cardiff side who had Gabriel Osho sent off before half-time.

"They are a good team and even with 10 men they hurt you," Duff added.

"The wingers are very good and the runs they make from midfield - I think Ryan Wintle is the best midfielder in the league – they can hurt you in lots of different ways.

"If it had ended up at 0-0 playing against 10 men I would still have respected that point because they are so good at what they do.

"The encouraging thing is [Wycombe] have come to one of the best two teams in the league, a huge football club, and competed really well and overall deserved to win."

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Brian Barry-Murphy reckons Cardiff City could benefit from defeat to Wycombe Wanderers as they prepare to host Blackpool on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

Cardiff lost further ground on League One leaders Lincoln City after two late goals saw Wycombe triumph in the Welsh capital on Tuesday.

The Bluebirds are enduring their trickiest run of the season having lost three of their past six league games, but an upbeat Barry-Murphy insists his team are in good shape.

"Over the course of the season we have been amazingly consistent," said the Cardiff boss.

"There will be spells over any season where it's not perfect and our results at the moment are not perfect.

"But it's really beneficial for the players to have a feeling of what it's like to feel like you deserve to win and don't. How you bounce back and play in the following game is the most important thing."

Cardiff have lost back-to-back league games only once all season – at Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool in October – with Barry-Murphy believing his team have shown "great signs" in consistently responding to setbacks.

Their cause against Wycombe was not helped by defender Gabriel Osho's contentious sending off late in the first half.

A second successive home loss means Cardiff are five points adrift of Lincoln City, though the gap to third-placed Bolton is a healthy 10 points with eight games of the season remaining.

Barry-Murphy says his players must now focus on their meeting with relegation-threatened Blackpool rather than the league table.

"We know what parts of our performance need to improve," he said.

"We just have to try our best to play the way we want to play and win the game."