Cardiff City

Image source, Rex Features

Cardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy has seen for himself the kind of threat Reading will pose to his team in their League One encounter in south Wales on Saturday (15:00 BST).

With Cardiff sitting out last weekend's action due to international call-ups, the Irishman went to Exeter City to watch their 1-1 draw with the Royals.

Former Wrexham striker Jack Marriott scored for the sixth successive match to put Reading ahead but their inability to hold on to their lead saw them drop into the relegation zone.

Reading have been beset by problems on and off the field in recent years, but Noel Hunt's side have improved in recent weeks having gone four matches unbeaten, albeit with three draws in their past three games.

"They're a very big club in this division and I went to watch the game against Exeter in person to get a feel of the qualities the have," said Barry-Murphy.

"When we're so busy watching games on video, sometimes you can watch a lot of different things but you don't quite get a feel of the quality of the players or what the intricacies of their play are.

"So I went to that game against Exeter and you saw that the squad is chock-full of highly talented players who've played at a much higher level.

"Where they are in the league is obviously not where they would want to be currently but it just gave me a great insight into the talent they possess and what we'd have to do to overcome it."

Having been born and raised in Cork, Barry-Murphy knows Hunt, who is from Waterford, which is also in the Irish province of Munster.

"I would have known Noel from an early age," said Barry-Murphy.

"He's from close to me in Ireland, so always you watch each other. There's more and more Irish head coaches coming to the fore in this country, which is great for us."

Chris Willock previews Cardiff City's League One fixture with Reading and speaks about his time with the Bluebirds so far.

Brian Barry-Murphy looks forward to Cardiff City's home game against Reading, reflects on the international break and gives an injury update.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Alex Robertson's absence at Cardiff City remains something of a mystery.

The midfielder was a first-team regular as the Bluebirds were relegated from the Championship last season, but has yet to play a single minute in this campaign.

Robertson missed the first few games with a leg injury he sustained during pre-season and, despite being available for selection for more than a month now, the Australian has been repeatedly left out of Cardiff's matchday squads.

Head coach Brian Barry-Murphy has previously said that Robertson needed to match the "intensity" of his fellow midfielders to regain his place in the team.

The 22-year-old was in Australia's squad for their friendly matches in the United States and Canada over the past week, but did not feature in either game.

"He's really keen to be at the forefront of the manager of Australia's mind," said Barry-Murphy.

"I think Alex wants to get in front of him and show him what he can do and hopefully when he comes back here, he can build on whatever he's done over the past two weeks when we see him tomorrow and push the season forward."

Asked if Cardiff Under-21s matches might help Robertson work on his fitness and aforementioned "intensity", Barry-Murphy replied: "No."

The Irishman then added: "Our focus is on putting Alex in the position where he can compete, get in the squad and play for the team and he doesn't need to play in the Under-21s from my point of view."

Barry-Murphy also explained why goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, another player who has not featured this season, was not in the 2025-26 squad photo which was released earlier this month.

"Jak's not with us currently," said Barry-Murphy. "He's back in Newcastle for personal reasons and he's dealing with that."

Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Chris Willock is finally beginning to enjoy life at Cardiff City – and show what he is capable of – after a miserable first season for the winger.

There were high hopes for the Arsenal academy graduate when he joined Cardiff from then-Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers in the summer of 2024.

But the Bluebirds endured a torrid campaign in which they finished bottom of the table and were relegated to League One.

Cardiff have made a good start to their first season in the third tier for more than two decades, sitting in third place, two points off leaders Stevenage.

In 10 league appearances, Willock has already scored as many goals as he did last season – two – while he has provided more assists, with three so far.

"It was difficult," he said about the previous campaign. "I don't want to point fingers at anyone. I had to look at myself and I don't think I was good enough.

"These things in football happen. For any player in the world, it's not a smooth sailing career and it's about just keep going and keep believing in yourself.

"I know my qualities, I know what I could bring to any team, so I think this season has been a bit better. I've still got a lot more to show and improve.

"I think as a collective, as a team, we've done really well this season and I'm looking forward to the future here."

Cardiff appointed Brian Barry-Murphy as head coach following their relegation to League One, and the former Manchester City Under-21s boss has enjoyed a promising start to his tenure.

As well as turning results around, the Irishman has given young players a chance and transformed the team's playing style into something far more ambitious and attack-minded.

Barry-Murphy has been impressed by Willock's performances, and has told the 27-year-old he wants to see him provide more match-winning moments.

"I've enjoyed my time under Brian so far. I think he sees the game how I want to play, so it's been easy to play under him really," said Willock.

"He demands a lot, as he's said, and I think that's good from any manager in order to get the best out of players.

"He shows that he cares, his passion, his mentality to win, and I think that's always crucial in any good side.

"He shows his belief in you, that obviously fills you with confidence as well, to unlock a defence or create something for the team."

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Cardiff City will discover their FA Cup first round opponents later on Monday - 23 years since they last appeared at this stage of the competition.

The Bluebirds, relegated from the Championship last season, will feature in the first round draw for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

Back then, Cardiff were paired against Tranmere Rovers and following a 2-2 draw at Prenton Park won the replay 2-1 at Ninian Park through goals from Andy Campbell and James Collins.

Lennie Lawrence's side navigated a potential giant killing away at Conference side Margate in the second round as goals from Peter Thorne, Willie Boland and Leo Fortune-West sealed a 3-0 win.

Coventry City were Cardiff's third round opponents and following a 2-2 draw at Ninian Park, the Sky Blues won 3-0 in the replay at Highfield Road.

Coventry's scorers included Cardiff-born Lee Fowler and future Bluebird, Jay Bothroyd.

The 2025-26 FA Cup first-round draw takes place on Monday, 13 October from 18:30 BST.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Brian Barry-Murphy says Cardiff City's focus during the international break will be on ensuring players are fit and firing for the home game against Reading.

Cardiff had been due to go to Barnsley this Saturday only for the Oakwell trip to be postponed due to international call-ups.

That means an 11-day gap between the Bluebirds' EFL Trophy loss to Newport County and their next League One fixture, against the Royals at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday, 18 October.

Barry-Murphy described the September international break as a chance for Cardiff to work – but the picture has changed this month.

"It's slightly different for us compared to where we were four weeks ago," the Cardiff head coach said.

"We have quite a few injuries and players who probably need some recovery time.

"Gabriel Osho got a bang [against Leyton Orient last Saturday], Chris Willock the same, Perry Ng the previous week.

"Our primary concern is to get those guys back in training at some stage next week if possible and to try to get the squad in a healthy place when all the guys come back from what I'm sure will be an exciting week of international football for our club."

Cardiff have five players - Dylan Lawlor, Ronan Kpakio, Joel Colwill, Rubin Colwill and Isaak Davies – away with Wales' senior squad plus a number of others with Welsh age-grade squads, while Alex Robertson is with Australia for friendlies in Canada and the USA.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Brian Barry-Murphy says record-breakers Rob Tankiewicz and Axel Donczew will handle being thrust into the first-team spotlight at Cardiff City.

Tankiewicz (pictured above) became Cardiff's youngest ever first-team player as he started Tuesday's EFL Trophy match against Newport County at the age of 16 years and 117 days.

But he held the record for only a little over an hour as Donczew (pictured below, right), at 15 years and 234 days, replaced him in the second half.

The two attacking midfielders grabbed the headlines as Aaron Ramsey's long-held record as Cardiff's youngest player was wiped out – but Barry-Murphy says the duo have the personalities to cope.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

"These two are very grounded," said the Bluebirds head coach, who previously worked in Manchester City's academy.

"You are always looking at the personality of players and trying to pre-empt challenges that may come along the way.

"You get the feeling they have a real awareness of how good they are but their humility and how they approach their training on a daily basis… we have only seen Axel a few times because of his schooling, but you can see he is really down to earth and grounded.

"But when he plays with our players, he doesn't look in awe of them at all. When I have seen that in the past it normally means you don't have to worry too much about what they are going to do in the future."

Image source, BBC Sport

BBC Sport asked Cardiff City fans which of their players have caught the eye so far this season - and which have not.

Here are some of the responses we received:

Andrew - Best performer is Dylan Lawlor for me, reminds me of Alan Hansen. Closely followed by Nathan Trott and Rubin Colwill. Worst performer for me is Cian Ashford, can't beat his man and his terrible second-half miss cost us the game against Burton. Closely followed by Gabriel Osho who is weakening our defence.

Dylan - Dylan Lawlor has been playing beyond his years. Cardiff will struggle to keep him, especially if we don't go up.

Dan - Yousef Salech despite all the predictions he'd tear up league one has been woeful. Looks even worse against League Two opposition (Newport).

Tony - Great start from Nathan Trott but sadly only here on loan. Dylan Lawlor has been strong but might need sparing too much game-time to last the season. Rubin Colwill has gone off the boil sadly. Chris Willock has the ability to beat his man but his reluctance to use his left foot makes him predictable. He and Joel Bagan need to work on their crossing.

Mason - Easily best it's Ruben Colwill and the worst since we've had him probably Gabriel Osho. But I also think Dylan Lawlor is a strong part of the squad.

Gary - All of the young players have done well, particularly Ronan Kpakio and Dylan Lawlor as they're very young. Nathan Trott has been brilliant and probably enabled us to pick up wins against Wimbledon, Luton and Leyton Orient.

Chris - Joel Colwill been outstanding as has Nathan Trott. Not sure about Gabriel Osho in defence, always seems to have a mistake in him.

Cardiff City sit third in the League One table prior to their return to league action against Reading in the Welsh capital on Saturday, 18 October (15:00 BST).

Following the Bluebirds' highly impressive start to the campaign, who do you think have been the best performers under Brian Barry-Murphy so far this season? And which player or players do you think need to improve?

Have your say here

Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales at Cardiff City Stadium

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Brian Barry-Murphy was not the only person at Cardiff City Stadium who will have found his team's brilliantly chaotic 4-3 win over Leyton Orient to be "stressful".

Neutrals could rejoice in an enthralling, end-to-end encounter on Saturday which could easily have produced more goals for both sides.

But for Cardiff head coach Barry-Murphy, his Orient counterpart Richie Wellens, supporters of either team or simply anyone with a vested interest in the game, it must have been torture at times.

The home side had led 1-0 and 2-1, only to find themselves 3-2 down against their impressive opponents, before roaring back with two goals in two second-half minutes to secure a memorable victory.

"The overriding feeling from myself is one of immense pride for the players, especially in the second half," said Barry-Murphy.

"Again, I don't know what went on here over the last couple of years. But it's quite a difficult thing for the players when you give away goals of the nature we did. The second goal was a crazy goal - multiple ricochets and deflections - and I'd just put that down to the nature of the game and the anxiety in the performance.

"It was pretty stressful. We made it stressful for ourselves but also the opponents did. For the players, you saw us at our best and most dangerous when we flooded forward and really freed ourselves up and attacked in wide areas, getting beyond the Leyton Orient defence.

"Then you saw Callum Robinson and Yousef [Salech] become so dangerous. There's so much we can learn from the first half and from the second half."

The win ended a run of two successive home defeats for Cardiff – their only losses of this season in all competitions – and moved them up to third in League One, two points behind leaders Stevenage.

Barry-Murphy's men conceded only two goals in their opening seven league games but have shipped seven in their most recent four.

The Irishman had warned his side beforehand about the threat Orient would pose – describing Wellens as the best manager in League One – but he was concerned by some defensive aspects of his team's performance.

"I felt strongly throughout the first half that we misinterpreted what we needed from the game," said Barry-Murphy.

"We played a lot of short passes close to our goal and put ourselves under a lot of pressure against a team who we identified as being really aggressive and would apply high pressure.

"We conceded a record number of turnovers close to our goal - since we've been together - so by nature they were close to our goal.

"And you saw Aaron Connolly go through on goal and score. But it was pretty high-risk stuff from us when it didn't need to be. We just didn't interpret correctly how to get the ball forward quicker."