Erol Bulut has praised his Cardiff City players for their progress but urged them to extend their run of clean sheets. The Bluebirds manager was pleased his team were able to keep their opponents scoreless for a third successive match, although they had to settle for a goalless draw at the weekend at Stoke City.

Michael Duff has warned Swansea City’s loan star Charlie Patino he could pay for his red card by losing his place in the team. The Swans midfielder – on a season-long deal from Arsenal – was dismissed for two yellow card offences after half an hour of his team’s 0-0 draw at home to Sunderland. The 10-men dug in and managed to take a draw, but while Duff was full of praise for Patino’s recent contributions, he believes the 20-year-old will have a fight on his hands to regain his place after his automatic one-match ban.

Karlan Grant has been backed to get his career back on track by keeping Cardiff City’s promotion surge rattling along. Grant was once a £15m player at West Brom and playing regularly in the Premier League.

Gemma Grainger has insisted Wales are heading towards qualification for a major tournament – even though they could be relegated from the top tier of the Women’s Nations League. The Wales manager watched her team deliver a much improved performance, although it was not enough to prevent them failing to a 2-1 defeat in Denmark.

Gemma Grainger insists she is not worried by Wales’ struggles among the elite of international women’s football. As Grainger’s team prepare to face Denmark on Tuesday evening, their manager has given a robust defence of her record in charge and argued her critics are underestimating the step up in class her players are grappling with.

Liam Cullen believes Swansea City are learning to win ugly. The Swans striker scored the only goal as his team beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0 at the weekend for their first Ewood Park victory since 1971.

Rubin Colwill has finally wised up and is delivering on his rich promise, according to his Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut. The Bluebirds boss praised his midfielder for taking on board advice after Colwill scored the second goal in his team’s 2-0 win at home to Bristol City. The victory in the Severnside derby has lifted Cardiff up to fifth in the Championship table after back-to-back victories.

Anyone who saw Yakou Meite at his rampaging best for Reading would know why Cardiff City took a punt on the striker. When fully fit and firing, Meite was one of the most dangerous strikers in the Championship as his 42 league goals in 156 appearances (only 102 starts) would testify.

Gemma Grainger is adamant Wales can “compete against any team” despite finishing pointless in their opening two games in the Women’s Nations League campaign. Wales resume their Group A3 programme against Germany at a sold-out PreZero Arena in Sinsheim on Friday after defeats by Iceland and Denmark in September.

Michael Duff admitted he was left frustrated by Swansea City’s defeat to Watford, a second successive reverse that has dropped the club back down to 18th in the Championship table. The Swans manager claimed he was baffled by a decision to rule out a goal for Kristian Pedersen for pushing before Ken Sema struck his first goal of the season in spectacular fashion to earn Watford a 1-0 win.

Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut heaped praise on his players after watching his team bounce back into the Championship play-off places with a thumping 4-0 win at Huddersfield. The Bluebirds ended a three-game winless streak in some style with their biggest win of the season.

When you are battling for a starting place against the Golden Boot winner for the last two seasons in the JD Cymru Premier, your first hat-trick in professional football certainly helps your cause. Brad Young’s trio of goals in The New Saints’ 6-2 win at Barry Town United not only pushed his claim, but also gained revenge for the 2-2 draw their hosts had squeezed out of their earlier meeting at Park Hall.

Matt Grimes has insisted Swansea City’s home defeat to Leicester City has to be viewed in the context of the exceptional quality of the visitors. The Swans captain finished on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline as Leicester came from behind and made history by becoming the first ever side in the second tier to win their opening six away matches of a league campaign.

Erol Bulut has ordered his Cardiff City players to harden up after they lost their third match in five to drop further down the Championship table. A 1-0 reverse at Blackburn Rovers has left the Bluebirds in 11th place as they crashed to a third successive away defeat. Joe Rankin-Costello’s first goal of the season earned Blackburn their victory – Rovers’ only on-target attempt of the afternoon.

Kidology, mind games, or maybe just an off-guard truth – whatever it was, Michael Duff must have his players wandering at Swansea City. After going on a five-match unbeaten run – with four successive victories – the Swans players might have imaged their boss would be bigging them up before they take on Championship leaders Leicester City this weekend.

The top tiers of women’s football should have stronger financial controls to halt the growing disparity between big clubs and smaller ones, according to Crystal Palace co-owner and chairman Steve Parish. The Women’s Super League and second-tier Championship – that includes most of the current Wales squad – have a salary cap system where clubs can spend up to 40% of their turnover on salaries.

Liam Cullen believes Swansea City have a chance to test their quality when they resume their Championship campaign at home to Leicester City on Saturday. With the international break over, Cullen has returned from Wales duties to a club keen to pick up the momentum gained by a draw and four successive victories in their last five matches.

Cardiff City striker Callum Robinson is convinced the Republic of Ireland are heading in the right direction despite their disappointing Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. Ireland will not be in Germany for next summer’s finals – barring an unlikely series of results elsewhere which could hand them a second chance via the play-offs – after taking just six points from their first seven Group B fixtures, with just a tough trip to the Netherlands next month to come.

David Brooks is determined to shine at a major tournament for Wales after suffering finals disappointment in the past. Wales put automatic qualification for Euro 2024 in their own hands by beating Croatia 2-1 on Sunday as Brooks made his first international start since June 2021.

Wales’ two-goal hero Harry Wilson has repeated the claims of his captain and teammate Ben Davies that comments from FAW chief Noel Mooney were “not helpful” prior to their stunning Euro 2024 victory over Croatia. Wilson celebrated his 50th cap with a brilliant double as Wales boosted their Euro 2024 automatic qualification hopes with a 2-1 win in Cardiff.