After a solid opening four Championship matches of the season, Cardiff City finally stumbled to their first defeat of the campaign at home to Bristol City yesterday afternoon.

The Severnside derby was settled by a brace from Robins midfielder Andreas Weimann, who scored either side of a Dan Bentley own goal on the hour mark which gave Mick McCarthy's side a way back into the match.

The Bluebirds were unable to find a second equaliser though as Bristol City headed back over the River Severn with all three points.

It will have given McCarthy a lot to ponder over this weekend and with the transfer window still having a few days remaining, some big decisions could be made in the next 48 hours.

Let's look at two dilemmas McCarthy could be thinking about going into the international break and in the immediate coming days with transfers no doubt playing a big part of his thinking.

New attacking reinforcements before the window shuts?

The system that McCarthy seems to have gone with this season is a 5-4-1, with Kieffer Moore supported by two attacking midfielders - generally that pair being Leandro Bacuna and Ryan Giles.

Giles has been impressive since arriving from Wolves but Bacuna continues to frustrate many fans, and looking at the depth on the bench yesterday there wasn't much the manager could do to freshen things up going forward.

James Collins is still finding his feet whilst Mark Harris may not be ready to play an important part in a Championship season, so it may be important for the Bluebirds to bring in at least one attacking midfielder or winger in the same mould of Harry Wilson, who starred for the club last season but is now at Fulham.

 

 

 

 

 

Time to start Colwill?

With Bacuna not showing the greatest form for Cardiff, it may now be the time to give starlet Ruben Colwill an extended run in the side behind Kieffer Moore.

The 18-year-old burst into the senior ranks at the end of the 2020-21 campaign and his talents subsequently saw him get the call-up to Wales' Euro 2020 squad.

Colwill has made three appearances this season so far in the league and started against Millwall in a 3-1 victory last week at the Cardiff City Stadium but Bacuna took back his place in the line-up yesterday - it could be time for a switch-up though after the international break by McCarthy if no more signings are made.