Yousef Salech Gives Cardiff City Huge Boost as Brian Barry-Murphy Anger Lingers

 

The Bluebirds’ leading scorer was taken to hospital after a worrying collision during Saturday’s 1-1 League One draw with Stockport County.

But scans revealed no significant damage and the striker has since been discharged.

Cardiff later confirmed the positive news in a club update, which read: "We're pleased to inform supporters that Yousef Salech has been discharged from hospital without any serious injury and will now observe a short period of rest and recovery."
It means Salech could be available as soon as Tuesday’s game against Barnsley, or Saturday’s trip to Burton Albion.

Salech, who has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season for the League One leaders, was carried off wearing a neck brace after an aerial challenge with County defender Brad Hills midway through the match. 

Referee Paul Howard allowed play to continue, judging the duel to be fair, despite the forward remaining down for around 13 minutes before being removed from the pitch.

In the immediate aftermath, head coach Brian Barry-Murphy revealed the striker had been taken for precautionary tests and voiced his frustration over what he sees as a lack of protection from officials.

“Yousef’s in hospital, just having a scan on his neck as a precaution and we’re just waiting on the results of that,” said Barry-Murphy.

“It’s been coming, we’ve seen he hasn’t been protected by the referees. 

“We do so much analysis on the games, if I’m the manager of an opposing team I’ll see what you can and can’t get away with against a player of his profile, and it’s just been coming for months where he’s been consistently fouled.

“There’s a lot of talk about what the threshold is this season, the level of contact can be more prolonged than in previous years.

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“It’s very difficult when you have such a serious injury to someone who’s so close to all the players, so it’s difficult to compose yourself and focus on the game.

“So considering those circumstances, I was over the moon and my own focus to be honest was a little bit distracted by what happened, but the way we played and grew into the game and coped without Yousef, I was very proud of the players and really enjoyed the personality and the effort they put in.

“We’re very lucky the level of care and the attention Yousef got in that moment was brilliant and I felt relatively confident that he would be okay and once he obviously left the stadium, the messages at half-time were relatively positive.

“We managed to compose ourselves and play a great second half where we couldn’t just find a winner, I asked the players to just go for it at every moment of the game.

“Some of our player composure in the first half was not what we can do and I thought once we settled down, started to play our game, the players showed how good they can be.

“It’s a different way of playing when Yousef doesn’t play naturally because of how dangerous he is on crosses, but Callum (Robinson) helped us see the game out.

“I was pretty comfortable with creating a chance or two in the box and we did that and we just didn’t take it, but I was really happy with the players.”

Barry-Murphy had earlier criticised officials more broadly, adding: "It's been coming," before the scan results were known. 
"We've seen for months that he hasn't been protected by the referees.

"It definitely wasn't nice viewing, but we're very hopeful [it is not serious]. It's very difficult when you have such a serious injury to someone who's so close to all the players.

"It's difficult to compose yourself and to focus on the game. So really considering those circumstances the players faced, I was over the moon [with their performance] and my own focus to be honest was a little bit distracted."

He also expanded on his concerns over the treatment Salech has received this season, saying: "He's clearly been fouled all the time and not got any free-kicks. 

“The interpretation of the new rules is up to the referees, but it's clear how much you can and can't get away with and the level of challenges that he's consistently facing are clearly fouls and not being punished."

Despite the lengthy stoppage and the loss of their talisman, Cardiff recovered to secure a point, a result Stockport boss Dave Challinor was content with.

“It’s a good point for us,” he said. “I’m not going to come to an excellent side away from home, top of the league, and say I’m not happy with the point.

“I thought we were really good out of possession against a side which averages 62 per cent possession. They asked questions, we handled them.

“But we need to be miles better in possession. We have to be better at looking after the ball as we caused ourselves a few problems at moments in the game.”