By Paul Jones Cardiff City midfielder Will Vaulks has been called up to the Wales squad for their upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Estonia.  Vaulks has not been in the best of form the Bluebirds so far this season and hasn’t played for Wales since their 3-0 defeat to England 12 months ago. Ironically, the 28-year-old wasn’t picked for the Euro’s despite being in good form towards the end of last season and is now called up when his form is deserting him.

Joel Piroe insists the goals will soon start flowing for Swansea City, even though he currently seems the only player capable of turning on the tap. The Swans’ 0-0 draw at Derby at the weekend was their fourth goalless draw in 11 Championship games this season. In all, Russell Martin’s side have managed just nine goals, with five of those coming from Piroe, their £1m signing from PSV Eindhoven in the summer.

By Tom Prosser Junior Hoilett has admitted it was hard to leave Cardiff City this summer – and a bittersweet moment to score against his former club on Saturday. The Reading attacker struck his first goal for the Royals since being shown the door in the summer by Cardiff, who felt he wasn’t worth a new contract.  Hoilett started Mick McCarthy’s first game in charge against Barnsley but was substituted after just 50 minutes and did play for the club again.

Newport County’s interim manager Wayne Hatswell said his side’s 3-0 win over Scunthorpe United at Rodney Parade was dedicated to Michael Flynn. Flynn, who earlier in the week had negotiated an amicable departure from his post as manager after four-and-a-half years, said his farewells to the players on Friday, but wasn’t at the ground to watch them move to within a point of the play-off places with their best win of the season. “It was a good day at the office and we got back to winning ways. The first goal was key because it put them on the back foot and gave us the belief we needed to go on to win the game,” said Hatswell, formerly Flynn’s right-hand man.

Mick McCarthy insisted he has not “lost the dressing room” but admits whether or not the board still back him at Cardiff City is another matter. The Bluebirds manager conceded he is powerless to determine his own immediate future after the club’s former striker, Junior Hoilett, gave Reading a 1-0 victory at the Cardiff City Stadium. The decision not to offer Hoilett a new contract in the summer was McCarthy’s, but the question of whether it is time for the manager to now go will not be in his hands – a fact McCarthy conceded after his fifth successive defeat and seventh in eight matches.

Russell Martin has praised Wayne Rooney’s management at Derby County and suggested if the England legend was all about ego, he would already have walked away from the crisis club. Swansea City head coach Martin takes his team to the Championship’s bottom club hoping to inflict more misery on the Rams by collecting some much-needed points of their own. Derby sit bottom of the table with a single point after having a 12-point deduction, with a further nine-point deduction still likely.

Mick McCarthy is hoping the return of Cardiff City’s midfield stalwart Joe Ralls can halt the Bluebirds’ sliding autumn from turning into a winter of discontent. The Cardiff manager is pinning his hopes on Ralls’ comeback helping bring an end to their run of four consecutive defeats against Reading on Saturday in the capital. Ralls has been sidelined with an on-going groin strain for the past five matches and is set to return to action the day after celebrating the 10th anniversary of his Championship debut with the club he joined at 17.

By Tom Prosser Russell Martin is delighted that his Swansea side have the joint most clean sheets in the league so far this season and insists he is not going to panic about their concerning defensive record when playing away from home. Swansea have so far let in 11 away goals this season and have conceded three at Preston, Luton and Fulham. “We have the most clean sheets in the league,” explained Martin.

By Tom Prosser Newport County manager Michael Flynn is set to leave the club after Saturday’s match against Scunthorpe at Rodney Parade. Flynn has been in charge since 2017 and is reportedly handing over the reigns to his assistant Wayne Hatswell who played for the Exiles during the 2011-12 season. Newport have had a successful time on the pitch with Flynn at the helm.

Russell Martin has insisted he was “really proud” of his Swansea City players – even though a 3-1 defeat at Fulham exposed now familiar shortcomings in a season that has yielded just two victories in the first 10 Championship matches. The Swans have 10 points and are back in 19th position after an Aleksandar Mitrovic hat-trick condemned them to a first defeat in five games. Head coach Martin was pleased with the way his team held onto possession and created their own openings, including a well taken goal by Jamie Paterson which brought the scores back to 2-1.

By Paul Jones Mick McCarthy is now under intense pressure as Cardiff City manager after admitting concerns about his own fans chanting ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ during their 4-0 defeat to West Brom on Tuesday. The result follows Saturday’s 5-1 defeat to Blackburn and means the Bluebirds have lost six of their last seven matches in all competitions. “The away fans singing it at me doesn’t bother me one bit. But the home fans doing it? That’s a completely different ball game,” said McCarthy.

Gareth Bale has been ruled out of Wales’ World Cup qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Estonia with a “significant hamstring tear” – and may even struggle to make the November matches. Skipper Bale has not played since Wales’ goalless draw against Estonia on September 8 after being injured on his return to Real Madrid. The 32-year-old was due to win his 100th cap against the Czechs and his absence for October’s double-header deals a serious blow to Wales’ qualification hopes for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Cardiff City have been warned that promotion-chasing West Brom will not be knocked out of their stride by a physical approach when they visit the Bluebirds on Tuesday night. Mick McCarthy and his team are desperate to stop the rot for the home side who have lost five of their last six games in all competitions and three on the trot in the Championship. The Yorkshireman is a manager under pressure with fans growing restless after the 5-1 hammering suffered at Blackburn Rovers last weekend, but any attempt to muscle their way to a result will be countered, according to West Brom boss Velerien Ismael, whose team have only lost once this season.

New FAW chief executive Noel Mooney says UEFA would welcome a British and Irish bid for the 2030 World Cup. Mooney spent 10 years at UEFA and worked with all 55 European federations in his role as head of strategic development there before joining the FAW in July. The Irishman’s arrival in Cardiff comes at a time when a feasibility study is assessing whether the UK and Ireland will go ahead with an attempt to host the 2030 World Cup.

Former Newport County manager and Sunderland defender Len Ashurst has died at the age of 82. Ashurst made 409 appearances for the Black Cats – a club record for an outfield player – before moving into management.

Mick McCarthy accused his Cardiff City players of “capitulation” after their 5-1 humbling at Blackburn Rovers made it five defeats in their last six matches. The Bluebirds boss is under pressure to halt an alarming slump from his team who have lost three Championship matches in succession for the first time since he took charge. In all, Cardiff have lost four of their last five in the Championship as well as their Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton.

Swansea City head coach Russell Martin hailed Flynn Downes after the midfielder was at the heart of their first home victory of the season. Joel Piroe’s first-half strike was enough to secure a 1-0 victory over Huddersfield to end a run of four games without a win. It was a fourth clean sheet in five games at home for Martin’s men, who crucially found a breakthrough after failing to score in their previous two home matches.

Kieffer Moore has been left drained of his goalscoring powers by Covid, according to his Cardiff City manager Mick McCarthy. The Wales striker has only scored once in 10 matches so far this season and his boss reckons it’s due to a double interruption forced by the virus. Moore – who hit 24 goals for club and country last season, including one at the Euros finals – went down with coronavirus in July, almost immediately after returning from summer duty with Wales.

Russell Martin has called on his Swansea City players to be braver after they bowed out of the Carabao Cup following a 2-0 defeat at Brighton. It was a comfortable victory for one of the Premier League’s in-form teams, but Swans head coach Martin was left frustrated by missed chances early on and a lack of ambition after his side fell behind. Martin did claim to have seen a lot of positives, but the fact is his team have now won only three times in their first 11 games this season in all competitions and are winless in their last five.

Former Swansea City manager Graham Potter comes up against his old club for the first time on Wednesday night, convinced Russell Martin can take them back to the Premier League. Potter – who left the Swans to take charge at Brighton two years ago – will be in the Premier League club’s dug-out for their Carabao Cup tie at the Amex Stadium. It is the first reunion with their former boss for the Swans, who have made a poor start to the season in the Championship with just one win in eight matches.