And so it begins
+ Visit Cardiff FC for Latest News, Transfer Gossip, Fixtures and Match Results |
Burton injury update
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/sport/fo...-injury-267441
Burton Albion do not have any new injury worries ahead of the visit of Cardiff City in Saturday's Championship curtain-raiser at the Pirelli Stadium, according to manager Nigel Clough.
Record-signing Liam Boyce begins his road to recovery after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Saturday's friendly against Shrewsbury Town.
Defender Ben Turner also misses out, as he starts his five game suspension after being found guilty of racially abusing Brentford midfielder Nico Yennaris in December last season.
Jackson Irvine - who missed Albion's last two friendlies because of a tight hamstring - is also expected to feature against the Bluebirds.
Striker Luke Varney is also available following a spell out because of a similar issue.
Clough revealed Hope Akpan should be in-line to feature - after his header opened the scoring in last night's 2-1 friendly win over former Primer League champions Leicester.
“No, not at the moment," replied Clough, when asked about any injury worries the Brewers currently have ahead of Saturday's match.
"I think Hope - his knee was a little bit sore last night.
"He should be fine and in contention, so we've got about 18 or 19 to choose from."
“Yeah, he should be fine" Clough added regarding former Derby County man Varney.
"He was down to play last night, but it was just precautionary in the end, (there was) no point in risking him.
"So he will be available."
And so it begins
C'MON ON CITY, C'MON.
C'MON CITY, C'MON CITY, C'MON CITY, C'MON
Odds courtesy of Betfred and at time of posting as follows:
Burton 17/10
Draw 9/4
Cardiff 17/10
Long time lurker, registered just in time for the new season. Ridiculously excited COME ON CITY!
Good mate. You're not the only one, there's a lot of lads coming back this season. There definitely seems to be a better feel good factor around the club at the moment.
We need to get off to a good start then i thinl we'll have big crowds.
The fact that Burton sold out in two days and loads of regulars missed the boat shows that we're in a good place at present.
Zohore to score 2 or more is 10/1 with Willy Hill.
Worth two pounds!.
ONE MORE SLEEP LEFT
Match facts
- After failing to win their first five opening-day matches in the English Football League, the Brewers have won two of the past three (L1).
- Cardiff City have won four and drawn four of their past nine matches on the opening weekend of the season (L1).
- Veteran manager Neil Warnock has lost just once in his past 10 opening-day matches (W4 D5), losing 4-0 to Bolton while in charge of QPR in the Premier League.
- This will be the fourth competitive meeting between Burton and Cardiff, with the home side winning all three previous clashes (Cardiff twice and Burton once).
- Kenneth Zohore was directly involved in more goals than any other Cardiff player in 2016-17 (12 goals, five assists). Zohore failed to score or assist in both meetings with Burton last season.
- Jackson Irvine was the only Burton player to reach double figures for goals in the Championship last season (10), but did not provide a single assist.
Burton will be without Ben Turner, who starts a five-match ban after being found guilty of racially abusing Brentford's Nico Yennaris last season.
Striker Liam Boyce will be out for much of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained last weekend.
Cardiff winger Kadeem Harris will be out for up to three months after injuring his ankle in pre-season.
The visitors will also be without keeper Lee Camp, along with defenders Callum Paterson and Matt Connolly.
Geoff Eltringham is the referee
More...
The match officials for the opening game of the season at Burton on Saturday have been announced.
Geoff Eltringham is the man in charge as the 2017 / 2018 campaign kicks off.
Referee: GEOFF ELTRINGHAM (County Durham)
Assistants: Nick Greenhalgh and James Mainwaring
Fourth Official: Michael Salisbury
Eltringham has officiated a number of City games previously, his first was a 1 - 0 Bluebirds win at Barnsley in 2012.
Records show Eltringham's first senior apppointment as a referee was a Blue Square Premier League game at the start of the 2008 / 09 season, at Burton!
Over the last three seasons he has referee'd five Cardiff City games with four of them defeats for the Bluebirds.
Last season he officiated two Cardif City matches. He sent off Lee Peltier at Villa Park as City went down 3 - 1 and he sent off Matt Connolly as City lost 2 - 0 at home to Derby. Over the whole season he officiated 40 games issuing 112 yellow cards and 5 red.
[QUOTE=Carl Dale's Mole;4764850]ONE MORE SLEEP LEFT[/QUOTE]
I didn't realise how small the Pirelli is.
It has a capacity of 6,912. That's just under a thousand less than Port Talbot Town.
I hope we get a good 2-0 win tomorrow but I wish Burton well over the season. It would be nice to see them as a proper Championship side.