Aron Gunnarsson: Midfielder to miss season finale through injury

Cardiff City's Aron Gunnarsson will miss the regular season finale against Reading after undergoing knee surgery.

The Iceland midfielder was taken off after 10 minutes during Cardiff's 2-0 away win against Hull on Saturday.

The 29-year-old, who joined Cardiff from Coventry in 2011, may have played his last game for the club after rejecting a new contract in November.

Gunnarsson will be fighting to regain fitness for Iceland's first ever World Cup game against Argentina on 16 June.

The midfielder has been a regular starter for Cardiff for many seasons, but since suffering an injury on international duty in September he has started just eight games.

Since returning to fitness, he has resumed his role in midfield, scoring a crucial winner against Nottingham Forest in Cardiff's penultimate home game.

In March, with Gunnarsson returning to fitness, manager Neil Warnock said the Icelandic captain would be "daft" to leave if the Bluebirds win promotion this season.

If, against Reading, Cardiff can equal or better Fulham's result on Sunday the Welsh side will return to the Premier League after a four-season absence.

Analysis

BBC Sport Wales' football correspondent Rob Phillips:

"They managed without him for all but a few minutes on Saturday and it was a big win at Hull, and I think Warnock realised quite quickly that the injury wasn't one he would recover from for Sunday so I don't think it will affect them too much.

"Of course, for quite a while this season he has been out with injury, he's only recently come back into the first team. They've managed to get by without him and they will have to do so, hopefully, for just one more game.

"Any side wants a warrior like Gunnarsson. He showed in their last home game, getting the winner against Nottingham Forest, just what he can do. But most of all they want a fit midfielder.

"They've got Joe Ralls, they've got Craig Bryson and they've got Marko Grujic on-loan from Liverpool, they are not short of players in that department, and Neil Warnock will hope that he gets through their one last crunch game."