Cardiff City captain sends defiant warning to Leeds United as Championship 'battle' predicted

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Leeds United face a Cardiff City side propping up the Championship table and without a win this season.

Cardiff City captain Joe Ralls insists there is ‘no better time’ to kickstart their season than Saturday’s visit of Leeds United, with a battling performance expected from the struggling side.

The Bluebirds sit rock-bottom of the Championship and are winless in their opening five games, with pressure mounting on manager Erol Bulut after last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at newly-promoted Derby County. Reports from earlier this week suggested the Cardiff manager is on the brink of being sacked but having spoken to the press, he seems to have been given a stay of execution for this weekend.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Leeds are managing pressure of their own, with a 1-0 defeat at home to Burnley on Saturday leaving them ninth, and know trips to the Cardiff City Stadium have often been problematic. Farke’s side are often viewed as a major scalp across the Championship and Ralls believes the visit of such a big side can provide motivation for a first win of the season.

“We’re focused on trying to turn our season around," the Cardiff captain told reporters. "We haven’t had the start that we wanted, so it’s been a week of getting our heads down, training hard and working on things that we can improve. It’s a fantastic game, Leeds at home and it’s one that we’re looking forward to.

“There’s no better time to turn things around than Saturday. We have to stick together, first and foremost. We’ve got to take responsibility and that’s everyone, because performances haven’t been good enough this season, but also, it’s only us that can turn it around. We’ve got a great game coming up on the weekend, we know we’re going to have a great atmosphere at the stadium, so it’s one we can really go for.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s a massive game. We know they travel well and we know we’ll have a great turnout here from our fans. With the added thing of remembering Sol as well, I think it’s going to be a really good atmosphere prior to kick-off and we’ve got to take that into the game, we’ve got to use that and really go out there and show what we’re about, show that we’re fighting and battling for the club, show more than what we’ve shown so far. We’re not a million miles away, but it’s not been good enough, so it’s important that we sort that out quickly and like I said, there’s no better time than on Saturday."

Bamba inspiration

Saturday’s meeting will offer a chance for two of Sol Bamba’s former clubs to pay a joint tribute to the late defender, who passed away earlier this month aged 39. Bamba was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma while at Cardiff in 2021 and eventually returned to play after being declared cancer-free.

The Ivory Coast international played alongside some of the more experienced Cardiff players that will be on the pitch come Saturday, one of which is Ralls. And the club captain hopes to put in a performance his former teammate would be proud of.

“You have to go out there and give absolutely everything that you’ve got with that shirt on your chest, just like Sol did every time he stepped on the pitch for this club,” Ralls added. “That’ll be the message to the boys and we want to go out there and give a performance, one that I’m sure he’d be proud of. It’s important we do that.”

Leeds news you can trust since 1890
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice