Cardiff City: Russell Slade hits back at Mark Hudson's claims

Russell Slade has also managed Leyton Orient, Brighton and Yeovil

Cardiff City boss Russell Slade denies claims by former captain Mark Hudson on Friday's Sport Wales that the club are hampered by off the field issues.

Hudson, 32, left City in September after a five-year spell to join Huddersfield Town, the side the Bluebirds face on Saturday.

He says Cardiff are affected by "behind the scenes" issues.

"Mark's entitled to his opinion, I can only talk from my own experience," said Slade.

"I've been able in the window to shape the team. There has been good, open dialogue (with the owner) from day one."

Hudson joined Cardiff from Charlton Athletic in 2009, making 165 appearances during a spell in which he captained the side to the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League,

He faces his former employers for the first time on Saturday but says he has nothing to prove since leaving in September during the reign of former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

In an interview with BBC Wales' Sport Wales programme, Hudson said he expected Cardiff, without a win in seven league matches, to be higher than 15th in the Championship table.

But Slade says the club has changed since he took over in October 2014.

"What Mark and other people don't understand is there are certain factors that have changed off the pitch, in terms of the financial side," Slade added.

Despite the comments from Hudson Slade hinted he would have kept the 32-year-old at the club saying players of his type are "invaluable".

For more on this story watch Sport Wales on BBC Two Wales at 21:00 GMT and on iPlayer for seven days after transmission.