Cardiff City were hit by an injury blow this afternoon as pivotal defender Kevin McNaughton limped from the action shortly into the second half of the 1-0 away win over Preston North End – the Bluebirds will be desperately hoping he is fit for the remaining two games, and, if necessary, the play-offs.
There was no-one close to McNaughton as he felt the injury, it looked like a hamstring pull and he was clearly in some discomfort moments after clearing an early PNE attack. The Scotsman has once again been superb all season, and would be a huge loss if forced to miss any games.
McNaughton has played right-back, left-back and more recently in a central defensive role this season – and excelled in each position. We have been on a good run of late, when McNaughton has switched to partner Keinan in the centre, with his added pace and reading of the game integral to our solid defensive showings. He does not look like a usual centre-back, and lacks the physique and presence to dominate in the air – he has however been extremely steady and reliable.
Mark Hudson made a welcome return to action, and saw out the game with no recurrence of his knee ligament problems that saw him sidelined for 8 weeks. Hudson made some imposing aerial clearances and did his job well to help us to a clean sheet, but whether on the left, right or centre of defence – McNaughton is certainly in our strongest starting XI – hopefully, he will be available in a weeks time to face Middlesbrough at the CCS.
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