Joe Ralls: Erol Bulut urges Cardiff City to keep captain
- Published
Joe Ralls is coming towards the end of the two-year Cardiff deal he signed in 2022
Manager Erol Bulut has urged Cardiff City to keep captain Joe Ralls beyond this season.
Midfielder Ralls, 30, is the club's longest-serving player but his contract expires at the end of 2023-24.
"He is an important captain of this team. Thirteen years he has been here so, we cannot say 'ah, at the end of the season, you go'," said Bulut.
He added: "What other people think, I don't know. This is my opinion... we have to renew his contract."
The Bluebirds boss says members of the club's board are "are handling" Ralls' contract situation "until now".
He added: "I don't know in which direction they manage it."
Ralls joined Cardiff in 2011 from Farnborough. Since then he has made more than 350 league appearances for the club, with his stint in Wales interrupted only by a loan spell at Yeovil.
He was also involved in Cardiff's promotions to the Premier League in 2014 and 2018.
This season, Ralls has started 21 Championship games but has been sidelined by injury for the last two matches, including last Saturday's 1-0 win at Watford.
He is a doubt for Saturday's home game at Preston, along with defender Mark McGuinness.
Former Arsenal player McGuinness and his centre-back partner Dimitrios Goutas have started every Cardiff Championship game this season.
But that partnership could be broken up if McGuinness does not recover from an injury following the Watford encounter.
"He has a small pain, so we will see if we can have him Saturday with us," said Bulut.
"Until now, our centre-backs we had only two, they played all the games, 90 minutes. We have been lucky we didn't get injuries before. Now there are a lot of games and he is still young, only 22, he has played a lot of games."
If McGuinness is absent, it is likely to provide Liverpool loanee Nat Phillips with the chance to make a first club start, having been a second-half substitute at Watford.
Full-back Perry Ng has recovered from a knock, while United States international Ethan Horvath - signed from Nottingham Forest - has cleared up his visa issues and is available for the Preston game.
Callum Robinson is still recovering from the effects of a virus, while Republic of Ireland international Callum O'Dowda is not expected back until later this month.