Cardiff City

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Winger Omari Kellyman is unavailable to play in Cardiff City's EFL quarter-final against Chelsea.

The 20-year-old is currently on loan with the League One side from the west London club.

The Bluebirds made a tentative verbal request to allow Kellyman to play in next month's tie but that has been turned down by the Premier League side.

"That would've been another brilliant opportunity for me but it's a difficult one isn't it," Kellyman said.

"I would've loved to have played. It would've been a great opportunity to play against some world class players so I would've enjoyed that one but it is what it is."

Kellyman moved to Chelsea from Aston Villa for £19 million in June 2024 on a six-year contract.

His first season was hampered with injuries which limited to him only four appearances for Chelsea Under-21s.

Having joined the Bluebirds on loan for the 2025-26 campaign he has appeared 11 times, scoring once.

Cardiff host Chelsea for a place in the sem-finals on Tuesday,16 December (20:00 GMT).

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Cardiff City will host League One rivals AFC Wimbledon in the first knockout round of the EFL Trophy after winning their group thanks to Tuesday's victory over Arsenal Under-21s.

The Bluebirds beat Exeter City to top spot in Southern Group A despite boss Brian Barry-Murphy deploying numerous young players in the competition.

Cardiff's reward is a round of 32 meeting with a Wimbledon side they beat 1-0 at the Cherry Red Records Stadium in the third tier in August.

As one of the group winners, Cardiff were guaranteed a home tie in the regionalised draw.

AFC Wimbledon finished second in Southern Group E behind Stevenage.

Johnnie Jackson's team are seventh in League One, a point and three places behind Cardiff.

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Andy Rinomhota is back in football almost seven months after playing his final game for Cardiff City.

The midfielder or right-back was one of Cardiff's better performers as they were relegated from the Championship last season, making 34 appearances in all competitions.

But with his contract up, Cardiff announced the 28-year-old's departure in June following "talks with the first-team management".

Having been without a club since his Bluebirds exit, Rinomhota has joined League One Reading on a deal until the end of the season.

Rinomhota made 84 appearances in total for Cardiff after joining the Welsh club from Reading in 2022.

Luke Hemmings
BBC Sport Wales

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Brian Barry-Murphy says his youngsters will be given another chance to impress in the next round of the EFL Trophy after Cardiff City beat Arsenal Under-21s.

The Bluebirds deservedly overcame Arsenal's development side in the final group stage match on Tuesday.

Victory meant Cardiff topped the group and secured a place in the round of 32, with the draw to be made on Thursday (14:30 GMT).

Cardiff boss Barry-Murphy named a team packed with academy players, with Gabriel Keita, Alyas Debono, Matty Apter, Trey George and Dan Ola making debuts from the start.

Three further debuts followed in the second half, for Jake Davies, Harry Watts and Jack Sykes, capping a proud night for the club's youth set-up.

"I'm really pleased for the players. It was a very big occasion for them as you can imagine so many players making their debut together," Barry-Murphy said.

"To perform in the manner they did and win the game and put us through to the next round makes it an incredibly satisfying evening for us all."

Barry-Murphy praised the youngsters' attitude, as well as the work of under-21s head coach Darren Purse and academy manager Gavin Chesterfield.

"You want that genuine collaboration where everybody feels part of something special," he added.

"We're still in the very early stages of trying to become the club we want to be, but for all the players to show so much passion and fight for a game like this was very satisfying."

Senior players including Callum Robinson, Chris Willock, Will Fish and Calum Chambers watched Cardiff's youngsters triumph.

Barry-Murphy said many of the players involved against Arsenal will play again in the next round.

"For these players to put so much into this game, the reward for them has to be that they get the chance to compete in the next round and see how far we can go," he said.

"That gives them an incredible benefit in terms of how quickly their development can be increased."

Luke Hemmings
BBC Sport Wales

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A youthful Cardiff City side ran out 3-1 winners against 10-man Arsenal Under-21s to top Southern Group A and progress to the last 32 of the EFL Trophy.

Academy prospects Gabriel Keita, Alyas Debono, Matty Apter, Trey George and Dan Ola were handed debuts from the start by Bluebirds boss Brian Barry-Murphy.

A lively start to the match at the Cardiff City Stadium saw Arsenal take the lead through Marcell Washington's low drive on 17 minutes after some fantastic build-up play from left winger Charles Sagoe, whose devastating pace sliced the home defence apart.

The hosts responded within two minutes, as Troy Perrett fired a low shot through Arsenal keeper Alexei Rojas' legs to level.

For Arsenal, Sagoe remained a constant threat down the left wing throughout a tightly contested first half.

After the break, Will Spiers first came close to giving Cardiff the lead when his strike cannoned off the bar.

The turning point came just before the hour when Arsenal were reduced to 10 men, with Rojas seeing red after he was beaten to the ball by Cardiff substitute Luke Pearce.

Cardiff quickly took advantage as Spiers' curling cross found the corner to put them ahead.

Barry-Murphy's team thought they had extended their advantage only for Pearce's effort to be ruled out for offside, with the third goal coming in added time as George marked his debut with a goal.

The draw for the round of 32 takes place at 14:30 GMT on Thursday, 13 November, with Exeter City the other side to go through in the group after their win over Newport County earlier in the evening.

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

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Cardiff City are not expected to get permission to play loanee attacker Omari Kellyman against his parent club Chelsea in the Carabao Cup.

The Welsh club made a tentative verbal request but have not had written permission from Chelsea, as they prepare to host the Blues in the quarter-finals next month.

The two clubs continue to have a positive working relationship and there is an understanding that it is not standard for loanees in British football to be able to face their parent clubs.

However, clubs could grant players special dispensation via written permission to play in such circumstances, which happened for Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori in 2018 when they were allowed to play for Derby County against Chelsea.

Yet the Blues also denied a similar request from Crystal Palace to allow Conor Gallagher to play against them in 2022.

Kellyman missed almost the whole of last season, barring four academy matches, through a series of hamstring injuries after his £19m move from Aston Villa.

After corrective hamstring surgery in March, Kellyman has stayed fit but has been carefully managed in Wales as he begins to reach full fitness.

All parties are pleased with Kellyman's progress at Cardiff thus far.

After a series of substitute appearances, he started against Exeter City but came off after 36 minutes, sparking fears he had picked up another injury.

However, with five substitutions available across English football, this was part of the plan to gradually build his minutes.

Kellyman's last 76-minute outing against Blackpool was his longest appearance to date, and his first goal came against Reading last month.

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Cardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy says he wants to be as "transparent and clear as possible" with the club's fans about the weakened team they will have to select for Tuesday's EFL Trophy match against Arsenal Under-21s.

The Bluebirds will be without a huge number of first-team and youth players – more than a matchday squad's worth – due to international call-ups for the game at Cardiff City Stadium (19:45 GMT).

The same thing happened when Cardiff lost 1-0 at home to Newport County in the competition last month.

Barry-Murphy made 10 changes, bringing in a mix of fringe and young players, including 16-year-old Rob Tankiewicz, who became the club's youngest player of all time, only for that record to be broken by 15-year-old substitute Axel Donczew in the second half.

All four teams in the group – Cardiff, Arsenal Under-21s, Newport and Exeter City – have a chance of progressing to the next round having each taken three points from their first two games.

"I think it's something that is different for our club based on how many players we have in every single age group [getting international call-ups]," said Barry-Murphy.

"There's no other club on these isles in the same situation because Swansea don't play in it [because they are in the Championship] and Wrexham the same, though I presume when Wrexham were in this competition last season they wouldn't have had the international commitments we have.

"So we've pushed the players every day but we just have to be mindful of the fact that we can't ask them to play on Saturday and then play again on Tuesday, based on how few players we have available for that game on Tuesday.

"We had a big following for that game against Newport, so I just think it's important that we're as transparent and clear with our supporters as possible to make it obvious what team we'll have available for that game."

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Cardiff City enjoyed a fine start to the season but the team has started to stutter in recent weeks - with Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Blackpool the latest reverse.

We asked Cardiff fans how concerned they are with the Bluebirds' defensive frailties.

Jon: I think that BBM [manager Brian Barry-Murphy] has done okay so far but the worrying lack of penetration at the front and the increasingly poor defending is also a worry. I believe that we have a very talented group of youngsters but playing them will result in inconsistency, which has been paramount recently. We need to steady the ship over the next six weeks and bring in some proven experience in January.

Andrew: Not that concerned. Think we need to sign Ricardo Rees from Merthyr Town in January. What a goal-scorer. Unbelievable.

Simon: Very concerning and especially with the lack of goals up the other end too. Need to play two up front and that would take the pressure off the back so we can score a few more goals. The small and young team was also going to be difficult this season with injuries, suspensions, etc kicking in. However, it's been the same for a few seasons now, so needs to be sorted out. We can't just keep on giving away sloppy goals.

Andrew: [Calum] Chambers not up to it anymore, [Gabriel] Osho out of form and yet to settle but will hopefully come good, leaving only [Dylan] Lawlor and [Will] Fish both of whom are not fully fit. Also not sure [Alex] Robertson provides help as well as [Ryan] Wintle. Need another central defender in January.

Have your say here

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Cardiff City boss Brian Barry-Murphy described his side's 3-1 defeat at Blackpool as a "very disappointing result".

The Bluebirds could not capitalise on a number of first half chances and Ashley Fletcher's two goals and a third from Tom Bloxham put paid to their hopes before Yusuf Salech's late consolation.

Barry-Murphy was pleased with the first half and the chances that his side created but acknowledged that the defending was not good enough in the second half.

"We created a lot of chances throughout the course of the game," Barry-Murphy said.

"The way that we play and the way we attack is not an excuse for us to defend the moments we had to defend in the manner we did.

"We've got to be as disciplined a team in defence as we are in attack and today we weren't.

"Today wasn't good enough – we have to swallow that today, accept it, feel the pain of it and come back stronger and be better."

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Promotion-chasing Cardiff City travel to League One strugglers Blackpool on Saturday (15:00 GMT) looking to get back to winning ways after a late loss at Bolton Wanderers in their last league outing.

And Bluebirds boss Brian Barry-Murphy says the intensity in training this week has been "through the roof" as the players respond to last weekend's defeat in the FA Cup by Peterborough United.

"Every time we've had a perceived setback, in the dressing room the response has been incredible," Barry-Murphy said.

"Training this week has been exceptionally good."

Barry-Murphy acknowledges the need for greater consistency, with an impressive Carabao Cup win over Wrexham sandwiched between those narrow 1-0 defeats.

"We're looking to really find the consistency in performances and make ourselves the best version that we can be on a more regular basis," he said.

"If we can strive to achieve that, then we're very confident that we can produce a performance that will give us a great chance to win on Saturday."

Although Saturday's hosts Blackpool are second from bottom in League One, new manager Ian Evatt has led them to back-to-back wins since being appointed.

Cardiff, meanwhile, go into the trip to Bloomfield Road third in the table, two points behind leaders Stockport County but with a game in hand.

"The talent in our team is obvious. I think the team and squad have been so dedicated and impressive in everything that we've demanded of them," Barry-Murphy added.

"I do consider myself truly privileged to be in a club with a group of players who are so honest in the way they attack every single week.

"If we can remain consistent in the way that we train and then play, I think it makes it a very, very good place to be."

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Will Fish is highly unlikely to feature in Cardiff City's League one game at Blackpool on Saturday (15:00 GMT) after aggravating the knee problem he has been managing since the EFL Trophy loss to Newport in early October.

The 22-year old defender has played in every game since - scoring the winner in the EFL Cup triumph at Wrexham - but left the field shortly before the end of last Saturday's FA Cup defeat at Peterborough.

"We have not seen Will Fish this week in terms of training, so he's an extreme doubt," said manager Brian Barry-Murphy at Thursday's pre-match media conference.

"Even today I don't think he'll train, he may train tomorrow but in all likelihood that would mean he is probably very, very doubtful for Saturday."

Fish has become a main-stay in the Cardiff defence this year which shares the EFL record for most clean sheets with six.

Alongside Fish's absence, the Bluebirds will still be without defender Perry Ng and forward Chris Willock who Barry-Murphy hopes to have back after the international break.

"We've trained really well, training has been really good this week and the rest of the squad is in very good health," the former Manchester City and Leicester coach added.

"The international break after the weekend comes at a good time for us in terms of trying to get Will fit and Chris Willock and Perry Ng.

"By the time we come back, fingers crossed you never know what happens in International football, our squad should be in a really good place."