Neil Warnock Trims His Bluebirds Squad For Cornish Trip

Neil Warnock. Pic: Getty Images.

Neil Warnock Trims His Bluebirds Squad For Cornish Trip

Neil Warnock is taking around 20 players on Cardiff City’s pre-season tour to Cornwall and Devon.

The Bluebirds manager will leave several players in South Wales for training, while Lee Tomlin, Aaron Gunnarsson, Idriss Saadi and Kenneth Zohore look certain to travel.

Cardiff open their Cornish trip on Monday with a match against Tavistock FC, a club fairly close to Warnock’s home.

They also play Bodmin Town on Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle in Devon on Friday.

Warnock’s first team spent the week at a hotel in Cornwall, while they will be joined by the club’s under-23 development squad later this week.

Coaches Andy Legg and Jarrad Harvey are preparing their team for fixtures against St Austell, on Thursday evening, and Bideford on Saturday afternoon.

Cameron Coxe, Jaimie Waite, Connor Young, Rhys Abbruzzese, Lloyd Humphries, Marco Weymans and Oliver Byrne, who were all involved at Taff’s Well, are likely to be with the under-23 group.

Warnock has made it clear he is not expecting to sign more players, although he has not ruled it out completely, and is intent on moving four or five on.

“There are players who won’t be here at the start of the season,” said Warnock.

“Fans might guess without me telling them really. I don’t envisage going with more than about 21 or 22 players this year.

“A few lads will be left at home when we go to Cornwall. I have already decided that three or four need to leave.

“It may be more after our pre-season games, Hopefully, though, that is not the case.”

Peter Whittingham, Rickie Lambert and Emyr Huws have left the Championship club, while Craig Noone, Anthony Pilkington, Declan John, Stuart O’Keefe and Frederic Gounongbe could leave.

Lewis McGugan has been on trial with Cardiff, but he is unlikely to be staying long-term because he is some way from full match fitness.

Monday’s opponents Tavistock FC are the reigning South West Peninsular League Premier champions, edging out Saltash United and Bodmin Town in the title chase.

Manager Stuart Henderson says: “The achievement was down to a group of players who showed tremendous work ethic. “There are no big-time Charlies, just a group of lads getting on with each other, on and off the pitch. We have real camaraderie among the boys and they want to do well for each other.”

Tavvy battled back to the Premier three years ago, having had a nightmare spell when they were relegated and suffered when their clubhouse burned down.

They had new LED floodlights installed this year and have a capacity of 2,000 with a stand for 200 people.

Cardiff City’s probable squad for their pre-season tour.

Goal: Neil Etheridge, Lee Camp, Brian Murphy.

Defence: Lee Peltier, Matt Connolly, Bruno Manga, Sol Bamba, Sean Morrison, Joe Bennett, Jazz Richards. Callum Paterson is recovering from a ligament injury and isn’t expected back until October.

Midfield: Loic Damour, Joe Ralls, Stuart O’Keefe, Matty Kennedy, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Mark Harris. Junior Hoilett is still on international duty with Canada at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Forward: Anthony Pilkington, Danny Ward, Ibrahim Meite, Idriss Saadi, Kenneth Zohore. Rhys Healey is a long-term injury absentee.

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