Erol Bulut wants to hit the January sales and look for items that move Cardiff City from pretenders to contenders for promotion. Cardiff host Norwich City on Saturday with the club looking to maintain their promotion challenge against rivals many thought would be better placed in the Championship at this stage than 17th.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Liam Cullen believes Swansea City are now giving a true indication of what they are capable of this season. The Swans striker is convinced the 3-1 victory at Plymouth Argyle at the weekend underlines a growing conviction the club have turned a corner after a difficult start to the season.

Swansea City fans may be wondering what has happened to their club to turn things around, but midfielder Jamie Paterson thinks he knows the answer. The Swans visit Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, where they could earn their fourth successive victory in the Championship.

Michael Duff believes Swansea City have turned a corner since their derby defeat to Cardiff City – a re-set he says was underlined by their 2-1 victory over Norwich City. Bashir Humphreys hammered home his first senior goal to make it three wins in a row for the Swans on Wednesday night. The 20-year-old left-back powered a half-volley into the roof of the net from an 82nd-minute corner to make it 10 points from the last 12 for Swansea and move Duff’s men up to 15th in the Championship.

Michael Duff has insisted Swansea City’s resurgence proves their resilience, having bounced upwards from rock bottom. The Swans head coach reckons his team’s 3-0 victory at Millwall was their best result since he took charge in the summer as they made back-to-back Championship wins.