Cardiff City are likely to be motivated by the arrival of Federico Macheda back to first-team selection following a spell on the sidelines. Manager Russell Slade spoke about the injury situation at Cardiff ahead of the game against Blackburn Rovers.

Cardiff have not managed to get the start that they would have liked. After draws with Fulham and Queens Park Rangers, it is extremely important for the club to get in the first league victory of the season. So far, the only win has come in the League Cup against minnows AFC Wimbledon. This is certainly not good for the promotion aspirations at the club.

Further, there are concerns surrounding the future of key players like David Marshall. The goalkeeper has been subjected to interest from Premier League outfit West Brom. Tony Pulis is alleged to have made an offer for the player, but West Brom still remain far-off from matching the £ 5 million valuation of the Championship club. Marshall has not featured in the league so far since he is still serving his suspension picked up from the end of last season. Bruno Manga has also returned to the training sessions and is likely to feature in the upcoming game against Blackburn.

“It’s very quiet, that’s all I will say and long live the quietness.Dave was desperate to get going again because he missed the first three games being suspended.He’s a strong goalkeeper, he’s got a great voice and he’s got great experience.To have that behind your back four [against Blackburn] where it was very direct against us, it was good to see him in good form. Probably it [the Blackburn game] wasn’t the best performance out of the three. We wanted more [than three draws] but the positive is that two of those were away from home… but at home we’ve got to treat it as a fortress,” said Slade after the 1-1 draw with Blackburn.