By David Williams
Cardiff City will be happy to be playing away from their home stadium tonight after slumping to a fifth defeat in the Welsh capital against Brentford last weekend.
That’s one more defeat than they suffered at Cardiff City Stadium in each of the past two seasons and they have picked up a mere 14 points from a possible 33 on home turf.
It is a different story on the road, with five wins and three draws earning them 15 points from a possible 30 and they will be hoping for three more against bottom of the table Wycombe Wanderers after dropping to 12th following the defeat on Saturday.
While the other two play-off semi-finalists who didn’t get promoted, arch-rivals Swansea City and Brentford, are currently in second and fourth respectively, the Bluebirds are flying well below expectation and the pressure is mounting once again on manager Neil Harris.
A run of four wins in 10 days, the last two at Watford and Stoke, gave both the club and the manager a pre-Christmas boost, but three defeats in their last four, conceding nine goals, has left them down on their luck once again.
“We have to respond against Wycombe and Rotherham this week because we want to build some momentum and consistency,” admitted Harris after the 3-2 reverse to Brentford.
“Individual errors keep costing us and we have let in too many goals in. It’s not just about the back four and keeper. We’ve turned the ball over too often high up the pitch.
“It is not the same individuals making the same errors – it is about us as a team. You can’t legislate for throwing away goals.”
Harris is still having to play without three key players in leading goalscorer Kieffer Moore, last season’s player of the year, Lee Tomlin, and his only recognised right back, Jordi Osei-Tutu. And he is still missing the roar of the Bluebirds fans to give his side a much needed boost.
“The lack of fans is among the reasons for our poor home form. As a player I hated playing at Cardiff City because you knew you were going to get a rough welcome,” added Harris.
“The home fans weren’t going to invite your granny around for a cup of tea. We played very well when we came back in August, but the lack of fans has definitely affected us.
“We can t use that as an excuse, though, and we’ve had a good away record. Fans aren’t going to be back any time soon so we have to make sure we are harder to beat at home.”
The last time Cardiff played Wycombe – back in 2003 – Gareth Ainsworth, now the Wanderers manager, was in the Bluebirds line-up.
Now, the former Preston, Lincoln and QPR midfielder, who played only nine games for Cardiff, is hoping he can lift his club off the bottom of the Championship table before the turn of the year, starting with a win against his former club.
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