By Gareth James
Erol Bulut has admitted he is in the dark over how much he has to spend in the January transfer window to bolster Cardiff City’s flagging promotion push.
The Bluebirds boss has regularly stressed he requires reinforcements, a need made more obvious by the manner in which his team have struggled in recent weeks.
Bulut’s men have delivered relegation form, rather than promotion credentials, since the start of November with just two wins in eight games.
Cardiff were under a transfer embargo for the previous two windows, but Bulut says a wishlist will only prove useful if the funds to fulfil it are made available.
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As he prepares to take his team to bottom-but-one Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, Bulut says: “I can speak only about what kind of players we need and how many players we need to push to stay at the level where we’ve been before.
“If you ask any manager about players, I can give you quite a good list with good names, this is not difficult.
“It’s important if it’s possible for Cardiff City to do it or not.”
The Turkish manager has revealed he held a meeting with his players this week to discuss their recent slump and has called for a mid-season re-set as they go into the busy festive period.
“Of course everybody wants to be up there,” Bulut added.
“We’re still pushing my players, we have to push, but now is the moment that we have to make a new start to win games to get our performances back again.”
Swansea City are also in a state of uncertainty, but that currently centres more around who will arrive as their new head coach, rather than incoming players.
The Swans are at home to Preston on Friday night with caretaker boss Alan Sheehan set to remain in charge for a fourth match since the sacking of Michael Duff.
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Sheehan has taken four points from those three games and a second victory would push his case for being given the role on a full-time basis.
A more likely scenario is for Sheehan to be given the reins until the end of the season, but he has called for clarity to be provided as a matter of urgency.
“It needs to be clarified soon, I think that’s fair,” Sheehan said.
“But I understand that it’s a process to get the right manager. Sometimes you can rush into these things, but I think it’s a process of finding who the right man is to lead Swansea City in the right direction.”
A victory for Swansea over eighth-placed Preston would lift the Swans up to 15th in the table.
In League Two, there is a Welsh derby, or sorts, as Newport County make the long trek north to face high-flying Wrexham.
The Hollywood hustlers at the Racecourse Ground are currently third in the table, but only behind second-placed Barrow on goal difference.
The 125 miles between the clubs may mean it’s an unusual derby, but it’s not often Welsh clubs meet at this level.
In fact,they have not met since County won 4-0 in an FA Cup second-round replay in December 2018.
Newport are currently 17th in the table, but have lost only once in their last six matches.
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Saturday brings the beginning of a busy schedule for Graham Coughlan’s side as they face four games in ten days, with Wrexham, Forest Green Rovers, Crewe and Sutton United to come,
Striker Seb Palmer-Houlden says: “I think the Wrexham game can be almost seen as a make-or-break game. If you win it, it makes everyone’s Christmas but if you lose it, it’s the opposite.”
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson is confident his team can overcome any derby anxieties, though, to keep their promotion surge going.
“It’s a Welsh derby and there’s history between the two clubs,” Parkinson said.
“I think everybody understands the importance of every game. Every game for us has been like a cup final since I came to the club. This has got that extra bit of incentive.
“The lads are used to playing in that cup tie type of environment.
“In terms of the atmosphere and the occasion, I’m expecting us to handle that really well, take it in our stride and keep our run going.”
https://twitter.com/Wrexham_AFC/status/1737795353221423609?s=20
