RUSSELL: KEEP AWAY FORM GOING AT IPSWICH
Manager targets continued progress and top half finish
This Tuesday evening, Cardiff City travel to Portman Road to face off against Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys have lost just three times in 16 matches on their own turf and are in the hunt for a play-off place, currently sixth on 71 points.
Conversely, the Bluebirds made it their fourth win in five on the road against Leeds United on the weekend with Russell Slade’s side undefeated away since mid-January.
Speaking ahead of City’s penultimate away fixture of 2014/15, Russell Slade said: “Our away form is really pleasing. If we can match that at home it will be a nice end to the season but first things first, we have a difficult away game at Ipswich Town.
“We would like to keep the run going. Ipswich are a tough and very physical side though, a strong side who have plenty to play for.”
“We wanted a response after the defeat at Bolton [on Easter Monday] because we felt like we were making progress and were in decent form.” Obviously, that game was a little bit of a blip, but I got the response I wanted from the players [at Leeds] and in the end, we were worthy winners.”
City’s younger players have made a huge impact since being introduced into the starting XI, with Slade keen to praise the efforts of the Bluebirds’ fledgling talents.
“Joe Mason, on his first start for Cardiff in about two years put in a wonderful shift [at Leeds] but I didn’t want to overstretch him because he will probably play on Tuesday,” Slade acknowledged.
“We lost Conor McAleny in that one, which is a bitter disappointment because the pair were linking up very well in the first period. They aren’t the biggest, most physical specimens in the Championship but in terms of cleverness and speed of thought they’re very good.”
Watch highlights of Leeds v City via the Official Cardiff City YouTube Channel below:
“Our set-piece play is something we’ve done very well on for most of the season too. Of course it helps when you have somebody like Peter Whittingham who has huge quality with his delivery; it’s always a threat, always a chance for us to score a goal. We have made good use of that. It is pleasing, for sure.”
