For a short period last season it looked as though Mick McCarthy was going to lead Cardiff City into the Championship play-offs, just a year after Neil Harris did the exact same thing after coming into the Bluebirds midway through the season.

The former Ireland boss could not do what Harris did though and Cardiff eventually finished in eighth place with 68 points, which was a decent effort considering the form the club were in before McCarthy arrived in January.

Squad strengthening will have to be done though in order to move to that next level into the play-offs, and it's already unlikely that one of last season's key players will be coming back.

Cardiff pulled off a coup last summer to bring in Wales international Harry Wilson on loan from Liverpool - he's destined for a Premier League move so that's one player who needs to be replaced.

With several transfer rumours floating about, let's look at how Cardiff could line up in August for their first game of the 2021-22 Championship season.

After signing from Charlton Athletic last summer, Phillips spent the first half of the Championship season on the bench, with Alex Smithies preferred by Neil Harris.

Not long after McCarthy arrived though, Phillips got his chance to impress after Smithies picked up an injury and he definitely did enough to keep the shirt going into next season.

There was one game where Phillips saved two penalties in one match against Preston North End which was quite impressive and he ended the season with 17 appearances in all competitions - a number he will be looking to build on when August comes around.

Arsenal loanee Jordi Osei-Tutu arrived at the start of last season as a right-back option but injuries restricted him to just eight Championship appearances.

Leandro Bacuna filled in for a while but in January the Bluebirds made the decision to invest in highly-rated Crewe man Perry Ng, who arrived for £350,000.

In just 19 Championship games, Ng was able to rack up four assists which is a good sign ahead of his first full season in the second tier - he's likely to have competition from youngster Tom Sang for that wing-back role but it looks like Ng will be the first choice in August.

When McCarthy arrived at Cardiff back in January, it only took him one match to change the club's system.

Gone was a four-man defence and in came a system which utilised three centre-backs in one team, with Curtis Nelson being one of those.

The 28-year-old played in 44 of Cardiff's 46 Championship matches last season and he didn't show any reason as to why he should be replaced in McCarthy's line-up ahead of the new campaign.

Reinforcements in that area may be brought in, with Ciaron Brown also waiting in the wings for either a place at centre-back or left-wing-back, but Nelson deserves to be starting at the beginning of next season.

The glue that holds the defence together, Morrison is still going strong at the age of 30 and is in and around his peak years now - which he showed this past season.

Morrison has always been an aerial threat in both boxes and he continued his fine scoring record for a centre-back in the Championship, netting five times in 38 matches.

There's several players in the Cardiff squad who you could class as leaders but Morrison is the one that leads them into battle with the armband, and he can probably continue at the level he's playing at for a few more years unless injuries start to get the better of him.

Probably the surprise package for Cardiff of the 2020-21 season, Flint was shipped off on loan to Sheffield Wednesday for the first half of the campaign, seemingly unfancied by then-manager Harris.

The centre-half played just three full games for the Owls though, and in his fourth match he suffered a hamstring injury that ruled him out until January, subsequently ending his loan spell early.

McCarthy though handed Flint a clean slate when he was appointed, and under his management the 31-year-old played every single minute of every single match for the rest of the season, including scoring the winning goal against Swansea City.

There's clearly trust in Flint to do a job and with the way he starred under McCarthy it's likely that he will be in the team come August.

Following the release of Joe Bennett after five years of being a Bluebird, the chase is now on for a left-back - or a wing-back - to come in and take his place.

It's a role that means you need both good attacking and defensive capabilities, and one player who has seemingly been targeted is Reach, who has left Sheffield Wednesday following their relegation to League One.

Wales Online believe that talks have been held between Cardiff and Reach, but as of last month they were no longer in the running for the 28-year-old's signature.

If the interest from other clubs dissipates though, then Cardiff could make a fresh play for Reach and it can't be fully ruled out that he ends up at the Cardiff City Stadium this summer as he seems like a natural fit.

Cardiff will be looking to fend off interests from clubs with better finances for Vaulks, who surprisingly was not selected for Wales' Euro 2020 squad.

Newcastle United, Norwich City and Sheffield United have all recently been linked with the midfielder, but it would likely take a high seven-figure fee to prize the 27-year-old away from the Welsh capital.

McCarthy will see Vaulks as a key part of his plans for next season but they are not in a strong position when it comes to his contract - there's just one year remaining on Vaulks' deal and they will be praying interest dies down and that he pens a new one.

Vaulks could definitely do with a fresh partner though in the engine room - Marlon Pack and Leandro Bacuna are 30 and 29 years old respectively and they could do with some competition.

And that's where 23-year-old Wintle comes in - a former team-mate of January signing Ng at Crewe Alexandra and a player who Cardiff are said to be looking at making a move for according to Football Insider.

A sitting midfielder, Wintle turned down a contract extension at the Railwaymen, with manager David Artell believing that he's off to the Championship.

That would tie in with Cardiff making their move for him and he could be Vaulks' new partner next season for a small compensation fee.

As mentioned previously, Harry Wilson is likely not returning to the Cardiff City Stadium next season, so his replacement will need to be sourced.

It's probably too early for Ruben Colwill to be that player even though he's been called up for Wales' European Championships squad, so the club could instead put some money down on Portsmouth's Ireland international Curtis.

Naturally a winger, Curtis can play in the attacking midfield role similarly to Wilson and he deserves a crack at the Championship after three seasons in League One with Portsmouth.

The 25-year-old scored 14 times in all competitions last season for Pompey and Cardiff are said to be one of a number of second tier clubs chasing his signature - he'd likely cost a seven-figure fee though.

After scoring 20 times in the Championship last season for the Bluebirds, it would be a shock if Premier League clubs at this point didn't have Moore on their shopping lists.

He has a chance to put himself in the shop window even furthers at the Euros for Wales, and if he scores some goals then you can imagine bids will be coming in for the 28-year-old.

Cardiff will see Moore as their talisman for next season though and unless an eight-figure bid comes in for the target man, then you can probably imagine Moore will be starting for Cardiff City at the beginning of next season.

Moore has gained himself a new strike partner this summer already as Cardiff confirmed the acquisition last month of Luton striker Collins, who knows McCarthy very well considering he handed him his Ireland debut in 2019.

30-year-old Collins had hit double figures for Luton in all of his four seasons and stepped up to Championship level easily, netting 24 times in 88 matches and he deserves a chance at a bigger club.

Is he definitely going to be Moore's strike partner? For now it's unclear - Cardiff could probably do with bringing in another striker as well but for now, Collins definitely deserves a chance to see if he can play alongside Moore in what could end up being a prolific partnership.