Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock claims his side is currently lacking a leader in the dressing room, and blames the summer departure of Aron Gunnarsson in that respect.

Gunnarsson left the Welsh capital to join Qatari side Al Arabi at the end of last season, after making a total of 286 appearances in all competitions for the Bluebirds in eight years with the club, during which time he twice won promotion to the Premier League.

Having also lost the likes of loan duo Harry Arter and Victor Camarasa, as well as the longer- serving Bruno Manga and Kenneth Zohore, Warnock believes his club are in something of a transition period following their relegation from the Premier League last season, although it seems it is the absence of Gunnarsson that is most noticeable to Warnock.

Speaking to TalkSport about adapting to life back in the Championship, the Cardiff boss said: "It's a bit of a transition period from coming down.

"We lost Aron Gunnarsson, Victor Camarasa, Harry Arter, Kenneth Zohore, people like that."

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Discussing why it was loss of the Iceland international that he believes has hit the club badly, Warnock explained: "With Gunnarsson, it wasn't just on the field but it was the leadership part that he showed."

Warnock's side are currently 14th in the Championship table, with a mixed bag of results that includes two wins and two defeats from their opening seven league games of the season.

Cardiff's cause in filling the hole left by Gunnarsson hasn't been helped by an injury to summer signing Marlon Pack, although Warnock seemed reluctant to blame their slow start on issues such as that, as he continued: "We managed to sign a good replacement in Marlon Pack and then he gets injured just after one game.

"We've had a few injuries, but that's no excuse, it's a decent squad and, apart from one really bad game at Reading, they've come back really well."

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Even so, it seems as Cardiff boss has been relatively pleased with his side's performances so far this season, as he added: "I can't fault them, we just can't score enough goals at the moment. But we're not doing too badly at the minute."

Cardiff are next in action on Saturday when they host Middlesbrough at the Cardiff City Stadium.

The Verdict

I do have sympathy for Warnock here.

Given how long Gunnarsson had been at the club, he was always going to leave a big hole to fill, and it appears as though Warnock is currently struggling to do that.

Not only was Gunnarsson a solid player on the pitch, but his clear passion and commitment to the club would have given the dressing room a big lift this season as they look to bounce back from relegation.

Add to that the fact that, having been at the club for so long, this is also a player who would have been a hugely popular figure amongst the club's fanbase, and not having him around to give the crowd just that little extra lift is something that Cardiff may also be missing right now.