Craig Bellamy keen to stay with Cardiff City

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Craig Bellamy has insisted he wants to remain at Cardiff City even if the Welsh club fail to win promotion to the Premier League this season

The 31-year-old is on a season-long loan from Premier League Manchester City and has helped Cardiff into the Championship play-offs.

He said: "If it is a missed opportunity this year, I will definitely be here next year because I am committed.

"I will stay, I want this club to get in the Premier League."

Bellamy still has two years to run on his Manchester City contract, and fully realises his future prospects remain firmly in their hands.

The Welshman rejected advances from other clubs to join Cardiff on loan last summer, saying the desire to help his hometown club to reach the Premier League eclipsed all other considerations.

No talks have yet taken place between Bellamy and Manchester City over his future, but the Cardiff captain stressed that playing for another Premier League club does not interest him.

"I'm here for a year and Man City have been great and we'll speak about it after," said Bellamy, who has scored 10 goals in 32 appearances for Cardiff this season.

"But Man City know my situation. They know I only want to play for Man City in the Premier League, I don't want to play for anyone else.

"I hear stories of other clubs and why would I choose them now when I could have chosen them last year? Why suddenly a year later would I want to go to the likes of the other teams.

"No. My stance is clear on this... I'm adamant on that. They own me, they are my club. If I can't play for them I will not play for anyone else apart from Cardiff City."

Cardiff and Bellamy face Burnley on Saturday knowing a victory will secure third place in the Championship and a play-off match against the sixth-placed team.

But the Bluebirds could still achieve automatic promotion by finishing in second place if leaders Queens Park Rangers are docked enough points by the Football Association for breaching Football League rules over the signing of Alejandro Faurlin.

Cardiff's hopes of securing second place as of right ahead of Norwich were extinguished on Monday by a 3-0 home defeat by Middlesbrough and the Canaries' subsequent 1-0 win at Portsmouth.

Bellamy is one of a number of high-profile loan signings in the Cardiff squad, but the former Wales captain said he has no intention of walking away until he completes his mission of guiding the club to the top flight for the first time in 49 years.

"If it is a missed opportunity this year, I will definitely be here next year because I want this club to get to the Premier League," he said.

"Whether it finishes my career doing so, I'll make sure that happens because I'm committed.

"I've made too many promises to myself, my kids, my friends and people around me that if I don't [get promotion] it will be a massive disappointment to me.

"But I'll be here next year trying to do the same."

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