Horvath pre-Stoke City | Steps in the right direction

Ethan Horvath spoke to the press ahead of our Sky Bet Championship clash against Stoke City on Saturday. 

The City goalkeeper has started the last three fixtures, having joined the Bluebirds on a permanent deal in January.

"It's almost been a month here and I'm settling in well," Ethan began. "My family are really happy here. Everything is going well. It's a fantastic city, a great group of guys and I'm happy with my start to life in Cardiff. 

"There's a lot about the city to like. I'm from Colorado and my wife is from Norway, so we're used to nature and the outdoors. You have Penarth and Pontcanna, which are really nice areas. The middle of the city is also really nice, so there are loads of different things to do, which we love.

"It's been a while since I played games and now I've played three games in the space of two weeks, so that's really good for me. The games come thick and fast, it's not Saturday to Saturday. After Tuesday, we've got another game to look forward to on Saturday and that's been good for me to get the games in quick and fast, get the cobwebs out and get back to the Championship, because it's a tough league."

The goalkeeper kept a clean sheet on Tuesday evening, as City were held to a goalless draw against Blackburn Rovers at Cardiff City Stadium.

Ethan continued: "There were a lot of positives on Tuesday. First of all, the clean sheet is something positive to build on. I know I've only been here a short time, but from the games that I have played in, we've created a lot of opportunities from open play, which is a positive, because I know that from offensive set-pieces, the team is very strong. I think it's a step in the right direction to see how much we did create from open play. 

"I know Stoke have changed manager and have probably changed style from the last time that I played them and probably from the last time Cardiff City first played them in the season as well. We'll do all of our analysis, but I'm pretty sure we can expect a similar game on Saturday like it was on Tuesday. We just have to take the positives from Tuesday and build that into our game on Saturday. If we get the three points, that's a step in the right direction."

A crucial moment in the draw against the Riversiders was Horvath's second-half save to deny Tyrhys Dolan to keep the score level.

"It was nice. From the eyes, it was probably not the prettiest game to watch, but those games, you always have to stay mentally alert," Ethan added. "I did enough in the game to still be in the game, coming out for through balls. Dimi [Goutas] had a great block and the ball somehow fell to him and I needed to react in those moments. I had to make myself as big as possible and luckily, I made the save. 

"I think one of the most different things about the goalkeeping position is that you can train on a range of things, but it's not that game-related scenario. There are no moving parts in training and it's really hard to create that game atmosphere on a training pitch. It was good for me to have this many games in a row. You get the feel back and find your positioning. It's good to get these games thick and fast and by the time I'm three to four games in, you're back to normal."