Cardiff City are pretty well stocked across the board right now. They find themselves two points above the drop zone but, it must be said, are playing nowhere near the level they are capable of with the squad they have at their disposal.
January typically represents a time when a club can inject new life into their campaign. It certainly proved to be the case last year when five loan signings played a massive part in catapulting themselves away from relegation.
As things stand, Cardiff won't have the opportunity to do that this time around. While the club are confident of lifting the transfer embargo, with Mehmet Dalman himself revealing the club want to bring in some quality next month, as things currently stand, it will be difficult to add substantial quality to the squad.
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There are loopholes and means win which City can bolster their ranks, a full explainer of which you can find here. But, by and large, they are going to have to go with what they have got if they embargo remains for the entirety of January.
They might, however, look elsewhere for an injection of freshness, competition for places and generally more options from which Mark Hudson can choose.
Here, we look at five players who are yet to kick a ball in the Championship this term and assess whether they can have any impact on the rest of the campaign.
Isaak Davies
The player supporters are most eager to see back on the pitch.
A promising academy product who last year showed flashes of what he could do at Championship level with a quick change of pace and direct running down the flanks.
He is not the finished article, far from it, and he must up his goal haul if he is to become a regular starter in the second tier, but there is something exciting there and given it was his rookie campaign last year, he gained his fair share of admirers.
The disappointing thing from his perspective is that he has now missed two pre-seasons. He was absent for the one under Mick McCarthy after suffering a training ground injury the day before what would have been his debut in the final game of the 2020/21 campaign against Rotherham United, while an injury at the end of last season has seen him miss six months or so this time around.
Hopefully he won't have lost any of his sharpness, it doesn't seem to have affected him in the under-21s games he has played over the last couple of weeks, but the 21-year-old will be desperate to relaunch his City career and help the team in the second half of the campaign.
Mark Hudson recently spoke about him being "like a new signing" and revealed he was impressing his team-mates, most of whom have never played with him, in training.
"He is like a new signing!" Hudson said earlier this month. "He has looked brilliant. Because we have had 17 new players come in, no one has seen Isaak yet. He has trained with us through this period and has looked sharp. He has excited a few of the players we have got. He has given a few of them a bit of the... ‘OK, this is Isaak.’"
Ebou Adams
Talk about nightmare starts at a new club. You couldn't write it.
The first of 17 new signings through the door this summer and one Steve Morison was delighted by when he captured his signature amid interest from a wealth of Championship rivals.
But 10 minutes into his first pre-season friendly against Cambridge United, a freak injury saw him rip his pectoral muscle off the bone. He was "flying" through his rehab in August, according to Morison, but his progress slowed and he has most recently suffered a setback owing to a problem in his knee.
It is hoped, though, that he will be back in January and can at least get 15 or so games in the tank so that his debut season is not rendered a total disaster.
The 26-year-old Gambia international has been a standout lower in the EFL, notably helping Forest Green Rovers to win League Two last season, but that leap up to the Championship is not a simple one and has been a hurdle many players before him has crashed into.
Perhaps expecting him to take the league by storm when he is back is a little fanciful, especially given the injury lay-off, but plenty think highly of him and he will be one many will watch with intrigue. He will add legs and bolster the team at both ends of the pitch. He could be the perfect foil for Ryan Wintle in the middle of the pitch when he is back.
How much he plays remains to be seen, but when he is fit and firing, City will expect to see a big output from him.
Ollie Tanner
Steve Morison quickly ruled out Tanner's involvement in the first half of the Championship season, saying that making the leap from the seventh step to tier two was like a "baptism of fire".
There's clearly talent there, but adjusting to the rigours and demands of Championship football has been a steep learning curve.
The club put a plan in place for him early on which took him through until January. It involved improving his conditioning and also afforded him time to bed himself within his new surroundings in a professional environment.
The encouraging thing is, when he has been afforded his opportunities, you can see just why he was signed. Technically he has all the tools, is exciting on the ball and his mentality is pretty fearless, unjaded by knockbacks at this level.
He was given a start in the chastening Carabao Cup defeat by Portsmouth and he just appeared to be trying too hard. But in his last few outings, for the first team in the Peter Whittingham Memorial Match against Aston Villa and for the under-21s, he has looked sharper than in those initial performances.
His sweetly-struck opener against a full-strength Villa backline including former Manchester United defender Ashley Young and current England international Tyrone Mings was something to behold, drilling it low from 20 yards into the bottom corner. Against Sunderland for the under-21s on Wednesday he gave cause for encouragement, too.
He still has much to learn, but, who knows, he might offer something different in the new year and edge his way on to the bench. He can then grab his opportunity.
It's more likely he will be considered more for regular first-team action next season, though.
Sean Morrison
A big question mark hangs over the former Bluebirds captain, who donned the arm band for that 2-0 win over Sunderland on Wednesday afternoon for the under-21s.
The pros for offering him a contract are that City are poor at set pieces, are devoid of leadership and are not heavily stocked with quality options at centre-back, really.
The cons are whether he can adjust to this new brand of football, having been drilled into a far more direct style under previous managers, how much of a toll this ACL injury has taken on him and whether City would have to play a back three, thus taking away an attacking option, to accommodate him in the side.
With Mark McGuinness out on loan until the end of the season, will Hudson be tempted to offer Morrison a deal until June? Given how influential he can be in a changing room, and the sheer number of young rookies needed to be coaxed through, he could get the green light.
If he is kept on, he is unlikely to start every game, but as a presence within the squad? Well, there could be far worse people to have around.
Keep an eye on this one.
Oliver Denham
Was given a run in the side under Steve Morison at the end of last season and many were impressed by his ability on the ball, positional sense and attitude.
Physically, he is not the most imposing, but neither is Perry Ng, if we are drawing comparisons. In real terms, how much of an impact will he actually make in the second half of the season?
The former Manchester United centre back, 20, has suffered from growth issues over the last few months. His problems were likened to those endured by Rubin Colwill. It's why he has seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth after playing in that Carabao Cup game against Portsmouth and not played a single minute in the Championship. But we are told he is back training in some capacity now.
If he has shot up then that would not be the worst thing for the Wales under-21s international. But much like Morrison, it's unlikely Denham will become a first-team regular, but he showed enough to be afforded more chances going forward.
Should City fall foul of injuries at the back in the coming months, and Denham is back fit, Hudson would likely have no qualms placing the defender on the bench or even in his starting XI.
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