MALKY CALLS ON PASSIONATE CROWD

City boss wants cauldron atmosphere at CCS this Sunday

CITY manager Malky Mackay has called for fans to make Cardiff City Stadium a cauldron as it prepares to welcome Barclays Premier League football for the first time in its history against Manchester City on Sunday.

The Bluebirds’ promotion to the top flight was aided by a fantastically passionate atmosphere at City’s home last season, an atmosphere recognised by Malky ahead of welcoming the 2011-12 Premier League Champions Manchester City and their immensely talented squad on Sunday.

“We’ve got to make sure that any team that comes down to our stadium knows it’s going to be a tough ask for them,” said Malky. “I don’t doubt the support our fans will give us this season and the ferocity of their support and passion for our club.

“I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve got the Barclays Premier League kicking off in our home stadium and for everyone at Cardiff and associated with the club. We’re very proud that we’re here and I’ve got no doubt that our fans will be passionate and supportive of everything we do this season.

“The way our stadium is will lend itself to noise like it did last season. We’ve got top, top teams coming to play us this season and it’ll be a real test for us but we’re relishing that challenge.”



And this Sunday brings perhaps one of the biggest challenges of the season for the Bluebirds, as they entertain Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City in front of the Sky cameras at Cardiff City Stadium, fresh from their opening game triumph of Newcastle United on Monday night.

But when asked if he was ‘daunted’ by the prospect of facing the Citizens in his pre-match press conference, Malky responded: “I wouldn’t say it was daunting,” said Malky.”They’re one of the best teams in the division and there’s no point in shying away from that. They have a wealth of talent but we’ve got to make sure that we go out there and be very competitive.

“We’ve got to play everyone home and away, it’s nice to get back to our own ground but we realise we’re playing one of the top teams in the league. There is a real task ahead of us, after Monday night you see how quickly that team play and have got up to speed with their new manager and they look as though they’re warming to him quickly. We realise the task at hand.

“It’s another game, we’re playing against a team that can punish us very quickly if we make errors. The standards we’re facing raise again – when you do give someone a chance, invariably you don’t get off the hook. That’s something that at every level you go up, the margins for error become less and less.”

Malky will be aided by having a fully fit squad to choose from however with Andrew Taylor back from suspension and striker Andreas Cornelius back in the squad, saying: “I’ve got a fully fit squad which is probably the first time I can say that this season, Andrew (Taylor) is back in the squad and Andreas (Cornelius) is back in training.

“Andreas’ trained this week and is back in the squad again but we’ll look at who actually starts in the next couple of weeks.”

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