Having recorded draws in half of their 10 Championship fixtures this season, Burnley head coach Vincent Kompanycannot be overly content with his team’s progress.
Nevertheless, the Clarets are still in fourth with just one defeat to their name, away at Watford, so there needs to be a level of perspective when assessing their start to life back in the second tier.
Although they have sometimes faced criticism for their work in the final third, Burnley have netted in all but one of their Championship games, with five of their 17 goals coming from Jay Rodriguez.
The veteran’s strikes and one assist have all come in separate games, the forward emerging as a key man in attack at a time when a wide array of new faces have arrived at Turf Moor.
Kompany will now hope that Burnley can kick on over the coming weeks, but the trip to South Wales represents one of four away fixtures in their upcoming six matches.
From Cardiff’s perspective, this is their first game without Morison at the helm, the manager having been removed from the dugout without the club’s hierarchy bringing in a replacement ahead of this contest.
The decision was widely criticised by the fanbase on the back of Morison keeping the Bluebirds in the second tier last season and beginning this campaign with 11 points from 10 games.
Mark Hudson, who is a contender for the full-time position, is in temporary charge for this match, with a win being enough to catapult the club towards the mid-table spots.
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Hudson may move away from the back three which has been used by Cardiff, instead looking to play with a more attack-minded side in his first game.
That could see defender Jack Simpsondrop out of the side to accommodate the return of either Romaine Sawyers, Rubin Colwill or Sheyi Ojo.
Callum Robinson will expect to retain his spot down the middle of the attack ahead of Mark Harris.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson provided the assist for Burnley’s winner against Bristol City, potentially putting himself in line for a recall.
