Championship preview: Bolton v Cardiff

Dougie Freedman

Whilst Cardiff City fans might still be getting used to seeing their team in red shirts, they are growing accustomed to life at the top of the Championship table.

They’ve been in one of the two automatic promotion spots for the past month, and with boss Malky Mackay calling for his team to find a relentless streak as they bid to turn early promise into a prolonged promotion push, it is fixtures such as this one at Bolton that they’ll be targeting for success as they continue on the long road which they hope will end up in the Premier League.

Wanderers have only just taken the wrong turn which saw them end up in the Championship of course, and after a below-par start to the season saw Owen Coyle lose his job as manager, Dougie Freedman takes charge of his first match at the Reebok Stadium under the glare of a Saturday evening television audience.

Freedman has brought his former Crystal Palace assistant Lennie Lawrence with him up north from Selhurst Park, and the Scot might well need to call upon his experience as he walks into a situation at a club nine points and 14 places worse off than the one he left behind.

These two Scottish managers faced off against each other when Cardiff overcame Palace on penalties to earn a place in last season’s Carling Cup final, and whilst there was a hint of bad blood between them then there is likely to be a smile from Mackay to a man in his new job on Saturday evening, followed by a steely determination to beat him.

Cardiff will be without the experienced pair of Craig Bellamy and Tommy Smith due to injury but they didn’t miss them during last weekend’s 4-0 victory over Burnley – a performance that Mackay called their most complete of the season.

He’d take something similar at the Reebok but in truth he’d accept any sort of display if it meant three points, and Cardiff could just get them to ensure that their promotion challenge stays on track and leaves Freedman in no doubt about what he’s walked into at the same time.

Cardiff’s closest challengers at the top both face away matches at teams in the bottom half over the weekend, with Leicester going to Watford and Middlesbrough making the long journey south to Charlton.

Both matches feature their difficulties but both Nigel Pearson and Tony Mowbray – tough defenders in their day – will be targeting backs to the wall victories to try and keep pace with the team from the Welsh capital at the top.

Elsewhere, Henning Berg’s first match in the Blackburn hot seat takes him to a still managerless Crystal Palace who nonetheless still occupy a play-off spot along with Rovers.

As with all games featuring new managers there will be an air of unpredictability but Blackburn can benefit from the new man’s arrival and earn a win in south London, whilst Ipswich could also experience that new manager ‘bounce’ and taste victory when they go to a Birmingham side who still don’t convince.

Hull will need to beat Barnsley in a Yorkshire derby if they want to hold onto their top six spot, but any slip up could be taken advantage of by Nottingham Forest as they host Millwall in a match they should win.

Wolves and Huddersfield could end the weekend in the play-offs if they can beat Burnley and Bristol City respectively, whilst Sheffield Wednesday entertain Peterborough in a match between two clubs separated by the line that denotes the relegation zone, and mid-table sides Derby and Blackpool meet at Pride Park.

On Friday, Brighton host Capital One Cup quarter-finalists Leeds in an attractive looking match in which the winner is likely to jump into the top six for a few hours at least.

Mark Jones – follow me on Twitter

Join us on Facebook

Follow our Bettor Football updates on Twitter