Cardiff v Wolves preview: Promotion showdown

Title decider? Probably. Hugely important game towards the fate of both teams’ promotion challenges? Certainly.

It’s the unstoppable force of the Cardiff juggernaut – unbeaten since New Year’s Day – against the immoveable object of Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves, table toppers since October.

A Friday night under the lights in front of one of Cardiff’s biggest crowds in recent years, screened live on television and with a £100million Premier League pot of gold on the horizon – it doesn’t get much bigger.

Wolves have sporadically wobbled in recent weeks, noticeably during their last two away games against promotion contenders (Fulham and Villa).

But Nuno Espirito Santo doesn’t believe that has a bearing on tonight’s clash.

“I honestly think when you start the competition – when we came here I had a lot of time to work on it – 24 teams and if you asked 15 they had natural expectations to fight for the play-offs,” he said

“We are talking about all the opponents, they’re always difficult. The difficulties are always the same.”

As for team news, Nuno has almost a fully fit squad to choose from.

Only Bright Enobakhare, who’s been suffering with a quad injury for some weeks, is unavailable for the trip to Neil Warnock’s second-placed Bluebirds.

Nuno said the players had recovered well from Tuesday’s 2-2 draw against Hull – which followed that energy-sapping 2-1 win at Middlesbrough with nine men last Friday.

Diogo Jota made his comeback from an ankle injury in the Hull game. He is available tonight, as are the suspension-free Ruben Neves and Matt Doherty.

Whatever happens in Cardiff Nuno will demand an improvement from Tuesday’s lacklustre performance.

“I was not happy, we have to work on it,” he said yesterday. “We’ve spoken and we want to improve for tomorrow.

“Everyone is looking forward to it because it’s a good game against a good team, a tough team.

“It will be important for us but nothing changes since the beginning – we’ll approach it the same way.

"Cardiff have proved they are a hard team to play against and we are ready.

"We know what we’re going to face and we want to be better than them."

Around 3,000 Wolves fans are making the trip to Wales in what could be a record league attendance at the Cardiff City Stadium.

The Wolves boss said of the supporters: “It means a lot knowing we go around the country with every stadium with our pack there to support us.

“Together we are stronger. Knowing we are there makes us stronger. We work for the delight and joy of our fans."

Predicted line ups

Cardiff (4-3-3): Etheridge; Manga, Morrison, Bamba, Bennett; Grujic, Gunnarsson, Paterson; Mendez-Laing, Zohore, Hoilett.

Wolves (3-4-3): John Ruddy; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Saiss, Neves, Douglas; Costa, Jota, Cavaleiro. Subs: Norris, Batth, Hause, Miranda, Gibbs-White, Afobe, Bonatini.

Key players

Cardiff: Junior Hoilett – Canadian winger who has enjoyed a new lease of life under Neil Warnock and become a key figure in Cardiff’s promotion push. The 27-year-old former Blackburn and QPR player has contributed 10 goals in all competitions and 11 league assists – the fourth most in the division.

Wolves: Ruben Neves – Without him Wolves can look rudderless in midfield. With him they can achieve the control, tempo and dictation of play they desire.

Memory lane

Wolves beat Cardiff 9-1 in what remains their biggest ever away win in 1955. Johnny Hancocks and Roy Swinbourne both scored hat-tricks.

Past five meetings

August 19, 2017 (Ch): Wolves 1 (Bonatini 67) Cardiff 2 (Ralls 54, Mendez-Laing 77)

April 1, 2017 (Ch): Wolves 3 (Batth 9, 41, Costa 82) Cardiff 1 (Zohore 12)

December 13, 2016 (Ch): Cardiff 2 (Connolly 68, Pilkington 86) Wolves 1 (Doherty 2)

January 16, 2016 (Ch): Wolves 1 (Zyro 40) Cardiff 3 (Noone 28, 36, Ralls 48)

August 22, 2015 (Ch): Cardiff 2 (Jones 44, Ameobi 60) Wolves 0