Cardiff City: Defender Sol Bamba eyes 100 games for Bluebirds
- Published
Sol Bamba was former Cardiff boss Neil Warnock's first signing
Sol Bamba is eyeing a personal Cardiff City milestone as they prepare to make a late bid for promotion to the Premier League.
The 35-year-old Ivory Coast defender has made only four Championship appearances this season following his November return from injury.
But he needs just two more Championship starting appearances, to bring up his century of league starts for the club.
"Sol is fine," said boss Neil Harris, ahead of games resuming later in June.
"He has done every session, we are really pleased."
Bamba signed a new contract with the club in autumn, 2019 having become a firm fans' favourite since his arrival as previous manager Neil Warnock's first recruit in October 2016.
The Ivorian suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in March 2019, forcing him to miss the run-in to the unsuccessful battle against Premier League relegation.
This season, captain Sean Morrison and Curtis Nelson have forged a strong partnership at the heart of the defence, with Aden Flint also vying for a berth.
But the Cardiff boss will need all his resources for the resumption, with the Bluebirds facing nine games between the weekend of 20 June and the final regular Championship fixture in the midweek of 21 and 22 July in a bid to reach the play-offs scheduled for 2 or 3 August.
Cardiff are currently ninth in the table, two points adrift of the play-offs and resume with a huge game at home to Championship leaders Leeds United, one of Bamba's former clubs.
The former Paris St Germain player's experience could be invaluable and Harris said: "We appreciate he is not getting any younger in years.
"He is doing everything the players do, but you don't expect Sol Bamba to run with a player like Dion Sanderson, for example, who is 14 or 15 years younger.
"We have to be respectful of players who are at different levels and ages. But Sol has trained every session and has been great around the pitches as ever."