West Brom v Cardiff: Bulut calls for time as new boys settle in
Cardiff boss Erol Bulut has called for patience after a tough run of results as his new recruits bed in.
The Bluebirds head to the Black Country this evening having lost four of their last five outings including Saturday’s disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Preston.
Bulut’s side are 14th amid an inconsistent campaign and have won just once since January 1. They remain just seven points from the top six but now trail a host of rivals all gunning for what realistically appears two remaining play-off places, one currently held by Carlos Corberan’s men.
City have been dealt a fresh injury blow with defender Mark McGuinness ruled out for a couple of months with a hamstring issue.
Bulut’s standout recruit from last month was midfielder David Turnbull from Celtic at an outlay of £2million. Among other additions were Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Ethan Horvath, and loans for defender Nat Phillips from Liverpool, exciting Manchester City left-back Josh Wilson-Esbrand and former Bristol City striker Famara Diedhiou.
The Turkish boss said: “I think we need patience, all of us. We need patience in many things. Yes, we got four or five new players and we’ve tried to adapt them as quick as possible for the team.
“Dave (Turnbull) had quite a good game, Nat Phillips was quite good. Wilson-Esbrand came in. They have to know their team-mates much better for those automatic movements. This will come in the next games and in those games we have to show it.”
Forward Karlan Grant, on loan in south Wales from Albion, is not permitted to play. He has four goals in 29 games this term. Ex-Albion man Callum Robinson is struggling with fitness at the Cardiff City Stadium and hasn’t played since early January.
Former Arsenal man and Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey, back at his boyhood club, is pushing for a start after more than four months out injured. He returned from the bench on Saturday.
