Cardiff City

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Erol Bulut says Aaron Ramsey is not yet ready to return to Cardiff City’s starting side.

Wales captain Ramsey, 33, made just his 10th Cardiff appearance since returning to his boyhood club last summer when he came on as a half-time substitute in Friday’s defeat to Sunderland.

Ramsey had recently returned to action after a calf injury, having been out for five months earlier in the season with a knee problem.

“Physically he is not on the level that he can be in the starting XI,” said Cardiff boss Bulut.

“We used him [against Sunderland] for 45 minutes.

“In the second half we put him in and he started to change things a little bit offensively, but you cannot expect one or two players to change the whole game when you have so many players [not playing well].

“We don’t need to speak about Ramsey’s quality. He now needs games. He needs maybe one or two more games, then he can have a start.”

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Manager Erol Bulut described Cardiff City's performance in their 2-0 defeat at home to Sunderland on Friday as one of their worst of the season.

The Bluebirds were comprehensively outplayed by a Sunderland side who recorded their first win in eight games.

This was a second successive 2-0 defeat for Cardiff, who were similarly woeful when they lost at arch rivals Swansea City before the international break.

“Today I have to be honest, from the 39 games we’ve played this season, this was one of the worst," Bulut said of the Sunderland game.

"I have to be clear about that. I didn’t like it at all.

“Until minute 12, when we conceded a penalty, everything was fine. After that, we lost totally our confidence, our playing shape. We couldn’t create.

“This is disappointing. We couldn’t wake up. We lost a lot of duels, a lot of individual mistakes were made. When you make this many mistakes, you cannot expect to win the game.

“During the international break, the players trained really well so I was expecting a much better game. To see that performance today, it hurts."

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Manager Erol Bulut hopes Cardiff City can finish strongly as they approach the closing stages of the Championship season.

The Bluebirds had been on a four-match winning streak before losing 2-0 to arch rivals Swansea City earlier this month.

Having had the international break to wipe that derby defeat from their memories, Cardiff return with a home match against Sunderland on Friday (15:00 GMT).

The play-off places - eight points away - are probably out of reach now, but Bulut is not ruling anything out.

"We have only eight games to play," he said. "Everyone knows where we want to be and what we want to push.

"I don't need to hide about that. Before, I said we take it game by game and this will continue like this.

"In front of us, the next three or for games will decide where we want to be, where we will be."

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Cardiff City forward Karlan Grant says he will decide on his long-term future once his loan spell from West Bromwich Albion is over.

Grant, 26, has impressed for the Bluebirds since joining from West Brom on a season-long loan last summer.

However, he has only managed five goals in 34 Championship appearances, the majority of which have been on the left wing.

Grant has two years remaining on the six-year contract he signed with West Brom when he joined from Huddersfield Town in the summer of 2020.

"We'll have to see [about next season]," said Grant.

"I've still got years left on my contract at West Brom, so it's a conversation for the clubs to have. I'll go back and have a chat with my representatives and we'll see what the best option is for me.

“I’ve enjoyed it here [Cardiff]. Everyone has been very welcoming. The fans have been great with me and the staff, everyone affiliated with the club have been great.

"I’ve definitely matured as a player. I do still see myself as a goalscorer and I probably haven’t done that enough this season, but I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I can be an asset to the team.

"I’ve managed to do that here and I’ve enjoyed it. Hopefully, I can continue that and add more goals."

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Cardiff City will be without left-back Jamilu Collins for Friday's Championship game at home to Sunderland because of a hamstring issue.

Collins, 29, picked up the injury while playing for Nigeria in a friendly with Mali on Tuesday.

"It's not something serious. Only to protect him," said Cardiff manager Erol Bulut.

"Also Kion [Etete, Cardiff striker]. He's trained with us but he's not fully ready.

"Our goalkeeper Jak [Alnwick] still doesn't feel confident because of his knee injury. It's a difficult place when you have this kind of injury. It's not easy to come back quick.

"He's still afraid a little bit to touch or kick the ball. We have to be careful with him."

There is better news on winger Callum O'Dowda, who could start against Sunderland having only featured as a substitute since returning from a long-term groin injury.

"Today [Thursday] we trained and everything looked good," said Bulut.

"Let's see tomorrow."

Midfielder Aaron Ramsey is still not ready to start but could feature from the bench again, with Bulut adding: "Maybe not to start but for 30 minutes or 45 minutes he will be available."

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Cardiff City’s trip to Rotherham United on Saturday, 4 May - the final day of the Championship season – will kick off at 12.30pm.

All games in the second tier have been brought forward to the earlier kick-off time, with details of potential television coverage to come nearer the time.

Rotherham look doomed to relegation already, with the division’s bottom club a whopping 19 points from safety with eight games remaining this season.

Cardiff, meanwhile, are 11th following last weekend’s defeat at Swansea City, which halted a four-game winning streak.

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Erol Bulut believes Rubin Colwill will become even more effective for Cardiff City and Wales if he improves his decision-making.

The 21-year-old earned a recall to Robert Page's Wales squad last week following his impressive recent form for the Bluebirds.

And Bulut believes the academy product will only get better when he addresses the weaker aspects of his game.

"Rubin is playing the last few weeks really well," said the Cardiff boss.

"Even when he is coming on, he is doing well.

"Rubin is a good player and he will be much, much better if he can fix small details on his game."

When asked what details Colwill needed to work on, Bulut responded: "Decisions! The decisions he makes are really important.

"When he gets the ball, how quickly he makes those decisions, he keeps it too much and has to make better decisions.

"But the only thing he is missing is goals and assists."

Colwill has not featured for Wales since the 3-0 defeat by England in their final 2022 World Cup group match.

He will be hoping to be involved as Wales host Finland at Cardiff City Stadium in a Euro 2024 play-off semi-final on Thursday and a possible final against either Poland or Estonia five days later.

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Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut believes Swansea City defender Harry Darling dived in an attempt to get Bluebirds forward Yakou Meite sent off.

Meite was fortunate not to receive a red card during Saturday's 2-0 derby defeat, having leant his head into Darling's during the first half.

Both players were shown yellow cards.

“I think it was artistic movement from the Swansea player," said Bulut.

"Like this I jump in a pool! I did not think it was a red card.

"You have the fans behind you and shouting. Some referees can get their red card out quickly but he realised it was not a red card and it was a yellow."