Steve Morison has a lot to contend with in preparing Cardiff City for their trip to Stoke City on Saturday.

The Bluebirds will begin life after Mick McCarthy at the bet365 Stadium but Morison has his hands tied behind his back a little with team selection.

Will Vaulks is the club's only fit senior central midfielder with Marlon Pack, Joe Ralls, Leandro Bacuna, Tom Sang and Sam Bowen all on the sidelines.

Morison gave some insight on Bacuna and Bowen's situation when he spoke to WalesOnline.

He said: "Leo (Bacuna) has been struggling with a hamstring, hopefully will be back at some point next week. Sam Bowen has an issue with his plantar fascia, he will be back after the international break.

"We are low on numbers, but that’s life!"

Eli King and Keenan Patten are the most likely to step up from the U23 side that Steve Morison had been managing before McCarthy's sacking. In terms of left field options the versatile defender Ciaron Brown could be thrown into the centre but Morison is expected to show some faith in players he has worked with in King and Patten.

King, 18, came off the bench in the defeat to Middlesbrough at the weekend and Patten, 20, was an unused substitute against Fulham in the match directly before.

The Verdict

It is going to be very difficult when you take a look at the Stoke midfielders that they could be lining up against. If you lose the midfield battle it becomes very hard to win a game of football.

Sam Clucas, Nick Powell and possibly Joe Allen will miss the match with fitness issues and the Potters' squad have the added workload of a League Cup tie with Brentford on Wednesday evening to contend with. Stoke have also lost their last three league games so where Cardiff are lacking confidence as will their opponents and Morison will be hoping to capitalise on that.

It will be interested to see how King or Patten or both get on if trusted with a start as Morison looks to give a good account of himself in the interim.