No sooner were the Cardiff players celebrating drawing Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup, they now have to quickly turn their attention to tonight’s Championship clash at Bristol City – the third time the two clubs will have met in the space of month. Last week’s FA Cup replay win against the Robins earned the Bluebirds a fourth round tie against Leicester in the Welsh capital at the weekend – with Dave Jones’ men coming from behind to beat the Foxes 4-2 to secure that lucrative tie at Stamford Bridge. Givemefootball’s Mark Shail spoke exclusively to City skipper Mark Hudson to get the 27-year-old’s thoughts on tonight’s game at Ashton Gate as well as the forthcoming encounter with the FA Cup holders.
What do you make of the Cup draw?
I was over the moon if I’m honest. It’s a draw that has captured the imagination of the fans and everyone is looking forward to it – but before then we have to play some important games in the league, starting at Bristol City tonight.
Have you played at Stamford Bridge before?
I’ve been part of a squad that has travelled there and have been on the bench but I’ve never actually started a game there. Fingers crossed I will be in the team against them and hopefully we can surprise a few people. I’ve been asked whose shirt I might swap with after the match but that certainly won’t cross my mind until after the final whistle has gone.
Given that there was a virus in the camp, and you’ve had a lot of fixtures recently, the players showed great character to come from behind to beat Leicester?
Yes, since the New Year we have been pleased with our performances and hopefully we can keep that form going. A few of the lads were struggling for one reason or another against Leicester but we dug in and got the result we wanted.
Have the off-field problems at the club affected the players?
There have been some issues behind the scenes but as far as the players are concerned it’s been a case of trying to shut it out and do our jobs on the pitch. That kind of stuff is out of hands and all we can try and take care of is the results.
Tonight you play Bristol City for a third time in a couple of weeks – you must be sick of the sight of them by now?
Three games in the space of a month against the same team is a bit much, but we played well against them last week in the FA Cup replay at our place and I thought we deserved to win in the end. The game before that at their place ended in a 1-1 draw and their equaliser came in the 93rd minute – we are expecting another tight match this evening.
