Neil Harris has admitted Cardiff City are now an outside bet to reach a Wembley play-off final after claiming a combination of poor defending and poor decisions by the referee have handed Fulham a big advantage. A clearly frustrated Harris – seething over both the free-kick that cost his team a second goal in their 2-0 home defeat as well as ropey defensive play – insists the tie is still alive.But it would represent a huge turnaround at Craven Cottage on Thursday for the Bluebirds to reach the Championship play-off final.

Junior Hoilett insists Cardiff City should hold no fear of Aleksandar Mitrovic – and it’s the Serbian warrior who should have been losing sleep. Mitrovic has been a recurring nightmare for most clubs in the regular Championship season and Fulham will look to the league’s top scorer to add to his 26 at Cardiff tonight in the first leg of their play-off contest. But Hoilett – who walked the detour to the Premier League via Wembley with QPR in 2014 – reckons it’s his own centre-backs, Sean Morrison and Curtis Nelson, who should be inducing the panic.

Merthyr Town manager Gavin Williams is working hard to build a competitive squad for the 2020-21 BetVictor Southern Premier League season. Williams has one of the lowest team budgets at Merthyr’s level, but he has recruited a group he believes will push towards the play-offs. Former Cardiff City youth striker Eli Phipps is among Merthyr’s new signings and he says: “I can’t wait to get started, it’s been a long time coming after the past couple of months. 

The only thing Neil Harris seems to share with Neil Warnock is a Christian name. But if the Championship play-offs go in his favour, then the current Cardiff City manager will have another common identity to his predecessor – that of promotion winner and Premier League boss. To do that, Harris’s team must overcome Fulham over two legs that start on Monday – a considerable challenge given that Fulham have occasionally looked like the best team in the division and they have the most feared striker in the Serbian, Aleksandar Mitrovic.

The first Cardiff v Swansea play-off final could be a reality next week, even though Cardiff City manager Neil Harris had dismissed it as fantasy before Wednesday night. Harris always believed his team would not falter at the final hurdle and they duly clinched their own play-off place with a 3-0 victory at home to Hull City, who they relegated in the process. But Harris had written off the prospects of Swansea City joining them in the top six, before their rivals completed victory with a six-goal swing over the tally managed by Nottingham Forest.

Left-back James Jennings has called a halt to his three and a half year stay at National League Wrexham. Dragons’ manager Dean Keates was due to have contract talks with Jennings, but the Manchester-born defender has decided to move on. He has signed for Wrexham’s National League rivals Stockport County along with younger brother Connor.

Curtis Nelson plans to feel the love of Cardiff City fans tonight and enjoy his own time in the sun. The Bluebirds defender – whose little brother Wes made the final of Love Island in 2018 alongside his now ex-girlfriend Megan Barton Hanson – is determined to clinch the point his team need to secure their play-off spot. A win or draw at home to Hull City on Wednesday would mean Nelson, 27, could couple up with Brentford, Fulham and Nottingham Forest in the Championship play-offs.

Steve Cooper hopes Conor Gallagher can finally break his Swansea goal duck as his team makes a last-gasp bid for a play-off spot.  Chelsea loanee Gallagher, 20, impressed with Charlton in the first half of the season before heading to South Wales where he has made another big impact. His creative spark is a key asset for Swansea head coach Cooper but for all his assists since joining in January, Gallagher is yet to find the back of the net in a white shirt.

Steve Cooper insists anything can happen in the Championship – but he knows the stars must align on Wednesday night or else the season will end for Swansea City. Barring a dramatic collapse from Nottingham Forest, who would have to lose their final two games by significant margins, the final play-off place is set to come down to a Welsh shoot-out between Cardiff and Swansea. Cardiff are in pole position to claim sixth spot after winning 3-1 at Middlesbrough on Saturday, but Swansea refused to throw in the towel by beating Bristol City 1-0 at home.

Neil Harris hailed the character of his players after Cardiff City moved to within a point of securing their play-off place. The Bluebirds manager was full of praise after his team strengthened their position in sixth place in the Championship with a 3-1 win at Middlesbrough. It means there is a great Welsh shoot-out on Wednesday night, but Cardiff are stocked with most of ammunition.

Neil Warnock reckons a victory over Cardiff City today would successfully complete his most difficult assignment in four decades in management. The man with the Midas touch when it comes to avoiding relegation – except from the Premier League – is determined to give Middlesbrough the result they need this afternoon, even if it undermines his old club’s play-off prospects. It’s the kind of storyline football can be relied upon to often deliver – the old gunslinger driven out of town, finally getting his chance for vengeance against the posse who saw to his departure.

Neil Harris has revealed his team had worked on a plan to expose Wayne Rooney which paved the way for their final victory over Derby County on Tuesday night. Lee Tomlin hugely improved Cardiff’s chances of making the play-offs – and almost certainly ended Derby’s – with a goal that Rooney will be keen to forget. Tomlin scored a second-half winner after he stole the ball off the slowing former England captain, who will be 35 in October.