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Tom Coleman

Cardiff City news as Bluebirds hit by fresh injury blow and Lamouchi fumes at 'absolutely crazy' schedule

Here's your round-up of all the latest Cardiff City news

Wickham suffers injury blow

Cardiff City have been hit by a fresh injury blow ahead of Saturday's clash with Stoke City, with striker Connor Wickham the latest concern for boss Sabri Lamouchi.

The striker is set to miss the visit of the Potters with a hamstring issue, but could return to action before the end of the season.

READ MORE: The inside track on Sory Kaba's situation with Danish club and whether a summer move to Cardiff City could really happen

"A new one is Connor Wickham. He won't be available tomorrow," Lamouchi said when quizzed on injuries ahead of the visit of Alex Neil's men

"We hope he [Connor] will be available for the next one in Rotherham."

Rubin Colwill is also definitely out, while Callum Robinson looks set to have played his last game for Cardiff this season, with the forward still working his way back from a hamstring issue of his own.

"Callum Robinson's season is finished," he added. "When you stop for two months, you need time to be ready. So he will be ready for next season, but not before May 8."

Elsewhere, Lamouchi admits there are "question marks" over Jack Simpson, Jaden Philogene, Callum O'Dowda and Joe Ralls, each of whom will be assessed for knocks ahead of tomorrow's clash.

Lamouchi hits out at 'absolutely crazy' schedule

Meanwhile, Sabri Lamouchi says Cardiff City's intense schedule isn't helping the cause for the walking wounded within his squad.

After the controversial abandonment up at Rotherham earlier in the season, Cardiff have one extra game to play compared to most of their relegation rivals, and Lamouchi believes the bruising fixture list is beginning to take its toll.

"Tomorrow's the sixth game in three weeks. The end of the season is absolutely tough for all clubs with suspensions , injuries, players being tired. There are a lot of problems for managers and squads, but what can we do? We just have to try to make the right decision and be positive.

"You will not find a team playing more than Cardiff in this short time. It's absolutely crazy. We were in Watford two days ago, we play Stoke tomorrow, we travel to Rotherham on Thursday night. We play them at 8pm. Then we play Sunday at midday.

"Huddersfield will have been waiting for us in 12 days. Rotherham play at home and then play Monday, not Sunday.

"It is what it is. It's not a complaint from my side it's just a fact.

"This is not fair because we are at the end of the season and in a bad situation. We have a lot of injury problems and we must find a solution. We will find a solution. We will be available to play Stoke, Rotherham, Huddersfield and Burnley."

Ralls - We have to learn from mistakes

Cardiff City captain Joe Ralls says his team cannot afford to repeat past mistakes if they are to get themselves over the line and preserve their Championship status for another season.

Ralls says the recent defeat to Sunderland was a 'shock' and believes lessons need to be learned from that poor performance if they are to kick on in what is a gruelling run of fixtures.

"We were really disappointed with the performance against Sunderland," he told the club's official website. "It was a bit of a shock for all of us really, after that great win at Blackpool.

"We are aware that we don't want to make the same mistakes again, and we want to make sure that we give a good account of ourselves. With the same attitude we showed at Watford, hopefully we can get the same result.

"Obviously, it was a brilliant win for us on Wednesday. It was a great feeling after the game, with the fans that travelled and all the boys together.

"We knew how important the game was, and how important every game is now until the end of the season. So, to start off this little period that we’ve got, five games, with a win, is brilliant. We couldn’t ask for more."

Neil hints at changes

Stoke City boss Alex Neil has hinted he could mix things up for the trip to Cardiff City on Saturday.

Neil made a number of alterations for the recent clash against Wigan, and says he could well tinker his line-up once again.

Jacob Brown and Ben Wilmot will definitely be out due to injury, but there could be further changes.

“We may need to think about a couple of little bits. I think that most teams will be in the same bracket, where they’ve got injuries or whatever to key players, they’ve got guys who have had a long season, maybe it’s their first season at this level and they’re starting to drop off a bit. But I still believe we’ve got more than enough to go and compete and go and do well, and I expect that to be the case in the game.”

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