Cardiff City may well miss out on the play-off places this season now in the Sky Bet Championship but they will hope that they can take the positives from the second half of the campaign under Mick McCarthy and build in the 2021/22 campaign.

The Bluebirds have seen ups and downs this year under Neil Harris and then McCarthy, meaning they're perhaps going to now remain in the Championship for next year but, even so, they have plenty to build upon and will be looking to do exactly that in the summer.

They do, though, have a number of fine young players coming through too and that could help them save some cash in the summer transfer window and in the long term.

Let's take a look at two of the standout youngsters now...

Rubin Colwill

Colwill looks well on the way to being an important Cardiff player in the near future.

The youngster is a physical and technical presence in behind the strikers and that makes him a real potential asset at Championship level.

We've seen Mick McCarthy offer him minutes in the senior side and he has looked at home at that level already so absolutely one to get excited about.

He has that taste for senior football now and will be eager to get more and more in the seasons to come.

Keenan Patten

We've also seen Patten involved with the first team at times this season with him being named in the matchday squad and soaking up the senior level experience from the bench.

He recently signed a contract to keep him at the club until summer next year and will be eagerly pushing to get into the midfield positions where he operates.

Cardiff have some top players in the middle of the park, of course, but challenges are there to be met and that is what Patten will be aiming for.