Cardiff v Southampton preview

Team news for Wednesday night's Championship showdown between Cardiff and Southampton at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Cardiff are without a number of key players for the visit of Saints. The Bluebirds saw midfielder Craig Conway (ankle), defender Mark Hudson (ankle) and strikers Robert Earnshaw (thigh) and Rudy Gestede (hamstring) all pick up knocks during the goalless draw with Leicester on Sunday. And the quartet join centre-back Ben Turner and Dekel Keinan (ankle) on the casualty list. Playmaker Stephen McPhail may be fit after suffering a hamstring injury last week while Andrew Taylor is also hoping to be considered, but manager Malky Mackay has been trawling the loan market for temporary replacements. Joe Mason is expected to start up front with Kenny Miller. Meanwhile, Safee Sali - dubbed the Malaysian David Beckham - has left the club after his two-week stay. Sali had been training with Cardiff to get an idea of British football, and has been invited to return to the club for another two-week spell in the near future. Dan Harding, Radhi Jaidi and Lee Barnard are back in contention for Saints. Harding has missed the last four matches after jarring his knee in training but is fit again and set to challenge Dan Fox for the left-back spot. Centre-half Jaidi (knee) and striker Barnard (ankle) could be involved in the squad for the first time this season having finally resumed training. Midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin may have played his way into the starting line-up after his goalscoring cameo as a substitute secured a 1-1 draw at Burnley on Saturday. Defender Dan Seaborne is the only absentee as he continues to recover from the head injuries he suffered in an assault outside a nightclub earlier this month.