By Gareth James
Rubin Colwill says he will concentrate on recovery after finally starting his first game of the season for Cardiff City.
The Wales youngster – who hopes to be part of Rob Page’s World Cup plans this autumn – played 88 minutes of the goalless home draw with Preston at the weekend.
It was Colwill’s first start for the club after four substitute appearances and rumours of both fitness issues and a suggested lack of faith held by manager Steve Morison in Colwill’s ability to fit into a team pattern.
The Bluebirds’ next game is at home to Luton on Tuesday night and Colwill said: “I’ve had my first start of the season now, so it’s just about recovery for the time being ahead of the next time out.”
The draw leaves Cardiff winless in their last three matches after a bright start to the campaign in which they won two of their opening three games.
But they have failed to score in their last three games and have only managed three goals in their opening six matches.
22 shots and 60% possession. Sounds like Cardiff dominated but, alas, no goals again. But against a seriously stern defence, the best in the league at current count.
How was it? https://t.co/sUeAKcKWgp
— Glen Williams (@GlenWilliams12) August 27, 2022
But Colwill insisted: “I think we played really well and dominated the game. We had a lot of decent chances that we could’ve put away on another day and I think we’re really gutted to come away with a draw because we deserved to win.
“They put a bit of pressure on us at the end, but I think that was more us pushing for a goal than Preston beating us on the pitch.
“They defended really well to be fair to them, and on another day it would’ve dropped to one of us in the box or we’d have a little deflection that would go in.
“The boys in our defence didn’t switch off throughout when we were up the pitch trying to score goals. They cleared everything up and started a lot of our attacking plays, so they deserve a lot of credit.”
Le latéral gauche Niels Nkounkou, formé à l’Olympique de Marseille, va prolonger son contrat avec Everton avant d’être prêté à Cardiff City (D2 anglaise).
https://t.co/yKRVgJ87I3 pic.twitter.com/vuuYrW3YxJ— Loïc Tanzi (@Tanziloic) August 26, 2022
Morison – whose team have slipped to 14th in the table – insisted: “It was an excellent performance, we just didn’t cap it off with a goal.
“If we continue to play like that, we’ll win more than we lose. At the end of the day, I’ve said it many times – performance first then the result will follow, and the performance was excellent.”