Danny Ward has his heart set on returning to the Cardiff City squad against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.
The former Huddersfield striker has been out since suffering an injury against Spurs at Wembley, but says: “Returning for the game at Liverpool was my target and we’ll see how this week goes.
“The injury has been coming along quite well and I have been out running this week, but I am also taking it day-by-day.
“It’s been frustrating not being out on the pitch, but it was also fantastic to see the boys win against Fulham. We are a tight-knit group.
“I’m gutted not to be playing, but I could not have been happier to see Josh (Murphy), Bobby (Decordova-Reid), Callum (Paterson) and Kads (Kadeem Harris) score their goals.
“The atmosphere in the dressing room after that was great.
“Playing Liverpool off the back of a win feels good. Our training ground is a good place to be right now.
“We know how tough it will be on Saturday, but winning against Fulham was brilliant and put everybody in a much better frame of mind.
“Don’t get me wrong, we will all battle to the end of this season, but it was getting tough and winning lifted everybody.
“We have shown we can put the ball away and now it’s about working to build on momentum and confidence.”
If Ward, aged 26, misses out on playing at Anfield, he will be intent on ensuring he is fit and ready for back-to-back home fixtures against Leicester and Brighton.
They are going to be critical fixtures in front of, hopefully, sell-out attendances.
The Bluebirds now face four successive Saturday Premier League fixtures and three of them will kick-off at 3pm. They are against Liverpool (away), Leicester (home on November 3) and Everton (away on November 23).
The home fixture against Brighton on November 10 starts at 12.30pm.
I chatted to Ward and City captain Sean Morrison on a sunny day at Cardiff Castle this week and both talked earnestly about hopes of staying out of the bottom three and maintaining top tier status.
Cardiff are fourth from bottom, in front of Fulham, Huddersfield and Newcastle, while the next two visitors to the CCS, Leicester and Brighton, are 11th and 12th respectively.
“Bluebirds fans are incredible,” said captain ‘Mozza’. “To earn that first win in front of them was fantastic.
“Our goal is to stay up and we’ve made a little stepping stone to do that. Man-for-man we were the better team against Fulham and winning was special.
“I hope people can see we’re moving in the right direction, that we’re adding to the Premier League and trying to be a better team.
“We’ve been building it up and during the performances against Fulham we were in a different gear and that’s what got us over the line.”
Goalscorer Murphy and Reid are showing major signs that they can be potent threats against Premier League defenders this season with their pace and awareness, while Spanish midfield player Victor Camarasa is looking better and better.
He looks a class act through the middle and there were signs that his link with Harry Arter and Aron Gunnarsson, back after injury, can ensure City part playing more and more fluent passing football.
Camarasa and Arter looked comfortable knowing Gunnarsson was watching their backs and protecting the back four. The Icelandic warrior played for 77 minutes against Fulham, which was astonishing given that it was his first appearance of the season and he had only completed two full training sessions with the Bluebirds.
Joe Ralls still has two matches left on his three-game suspension, but will be available for the home clash with Brighton.
Decordova-Reid was overjoyed with his first goal of the season and described the victory against Fulham as ‘massive’.
“We know we are good enough to win games and can compete in this league,” he says. “The squad underlined that by winning and hopefully we can take that on to our next run of games.
“The manager has given us a lot of confidence. We all go out there and perform for him.
“He brought me here for a reason and it’s important that I continue to work hard and hopefully find my best form.
“We just need to carry on now and try to bring the form onto our next game. When we head to Anfield we can enjoy the game, but at the same time we’ll everything possible to try and earn a positive result.”
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