Cardiff City are preparing for a challenging trip to face West Brom at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon as they look extend their unbeaten league run to an impressive eight matches.

Neil Warnock's side lost two of their opening three matches in a stuttering start to the season, but they have since embarked on this fine run of form which they continued with a 3-0 win over QPR in midweek.

The West London side had seen their four-game winning run ended by West Brom last weekend and the Bluebirds capitalised on their dip in confidence with Sean Morrison, Marlon Pack and Callum Paterson all scoring for the hosts.

Cardiff now face perhaps their toughest test of the season so far against the Baggies who suffered their first defeat of the season away at Leeds in midweek, with Slaven Bilic having overseen an impressive start to his side's season.

So, what side will Warnock name to try and condemn Albion to back-to-back defeats?

Here's how the Bluebirds could well line up...

Alex Smithies has now started nine consecutive league matches for the Bluebirds and he is unlikely to lose his place in the side following his third clean sheet of the season during the week. Warnock now has a big goalkeeping dilemma on his hands with Neil Etheridge returning to fitness after two months out through injury, but it seems likely Smithies will again be given the nod on Saturday.

Warnock will not want to make any adjustments to Cardiff's backline unless it's totally necessary, with this meaning the same four players should line up at the Hawthorns. Joe Bennett and Lee Peltier will start on either flank, while Aden Flint and Morrison are set to continue their defensive pairing. It seems possible that Sol Bamba is now nearing his return from injury after a lengthy lay-off and he could be back in the side soon, but he has not been named in the match-day squad so far this campaign.

Joe Ralls was missing from Cardiff's midfield during the QPR victory which meant Leandro Bacuna and Marlon Pack functioned as the holding midfield pairing. The duo both delivered stand-out performances during the midweek encounter with Pack even getting on the score sheet for his new club. This means Warnock should opt for a similar set-up against West Brom with Ralls unlikely to recover in time for the trip.

The midfielder was replaced by Lee Tomlin in the side and he produced an impressive display on his return to the side so he should get the nod again, while Gavin Whyte and Josh Murphy are continuing to look sharp on the wings. Robert Glatzel has started to look at home in the Cardiff side having scored two goals for his new side, and he will lead the line for the Bluebirds again.

There will be no need for Warnock to make any changes to a winning side ahead of the Bluebirds' trip to The Hawthorns, as a 3-0 victory over Mark Warburton's side will have instilled huge confidence among the players on the pitch.

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