Cardiff City earnt a massive win in the context of their season on Tuesday night, with Perry Ng’s header settling the result at the Cardiff City Stadium against Millwall.

Ng, who was Cardiff’s top scorer in the Championship last season from right-back, towered over the Millwall defence to nod home from a corner five minutes before the interval.

While a first league win of the season is undoubtedly a step in the right direction for Cardiff, the capital side still have many questions surrounding who will take charge of the team going forward into the rest of the season.

With an international break coming up after the Severnside Derby at Bristol City on Sunday, it is likely that a permanent manager will be announced after that.

Omer Riza, who has taken charge of their recent two fixtures, has a perfect opportunity to win over the fans (and the board) with another win in Bristol but Cardiff may choose to look elsewhere.

According to DragonBet’s latest odds, Riza and Wales assistant coach James Rowberry are favourites at 4/1, with the likes of Mark Hughes (9/2), Steven  Schumacher (5/1)m Freyr Alexandersson (9/1), and Nathan Jones (9/1) all trailing close behind.

Whoever Cardiff go to, stability is key to turning around their fortunes in the Championship.

TNS Make History in Florence

Despite losing 2-0 out in Florence, TNS’ performance over Italian giants Fiorentina was the talk of Welsh football on Thursday night.

75% possession painted a mis-leading picture of purple dominance, but at halftime Fiorentina had only mustered two shots on target and, crucially, had not scored yet.

On the 65th minute, the home side did eventually break the green and white dam when Yacine Adli’s left footed strike found the bottom corner. Three minutes later, former-Everton player Moise Kean sealed the result.

With more than twenty minutes to go, one could have forgiven TNS if they had let the occasion get to them, leading to a bigger score line than their resolve suggested. But no, the Cymru Premier side were a credit to the league, battening down the hatches for one last Fiorentina attack before the final whistle.

It seems strange to say after being beaten pretty soundly, but TNS will pick up points in Europe in the coming months. Fiorentina, along with Chelsea and Real Betis, are by far the strongest sides in the competition and with the likes of Astana (Kazakhstan), Shamrock Rovers (Ireland), Djurgården (Sweden), and NK Celje (Slovenia) to come, TNS will be targeting a first win in a ‘proper’ stage of European competition.

Joe Allen Returns To Wales As Swansea Lose At The Blades

While the news that Joe Allen has come out of international retirement to join up with Craig Bellamy’s Wales squad has dominated Swansea conversation over the last couple of days, their defeat at Sheffield United was a tough one to take given the close nature of the score line.

The result, settled by a Josh Tymon own goal on the stroke of halftime, was a tight defeat but Swansea’s performance was encouraging. 66% possession away at one of the favourites for promotion is a strong indication of Luke Williams’ ideas working in the biggest games.

However, the Swans only had eight shots to United’s 15, with Myles Pear-Harris missing a glorious opportunity minutes before the decisive goal.

With Swansea hosting one of Allen’s former clubs – Stoke City – on Saturday, it is the perfect chance for the diminutive midfielder to show that he is ready to be plunged straight back into international action, especially after the news of Ethan Ampadu’s injury keeping him out until the New Year.

A Rare Feeling For Wrexham

Wrexham fans experienced a strange, unfamiliar feeling on Tuesday evening: defeat.

Louis Thompson’s powerful effort won the match for Stevenage over Wrexham, who experienced just their second defeat of the season and third in their last 17 league games.

Despite the loss, Wrexham have not fallen in the table and remain in second, albeit now five points adrift of leaders Birmingham City, who also have a game in hand.

After a very good run of injury luck, Wrexham now have defender Max Cleworth and midfielder George Evans out for an unknown period of time. Phil Parkinson will have to use his squad wisely as midweek fixtures begin to start in earnest.

County Find Form Against Salford

First half goals from Kyle Hudlin and Aaron Wildig gave Newport County a solid platform before substitute Michael Spellman put the game to bed in a 3-1 win over Salford City on Tuesday evening.

Such is County’s fluctuation in form this season, they have now won back-to-back league games following three straight defeats. These latest wins leave them ninth in the table, a point away from the play-off places and just three from the automatic spots.

Potential European Qualification Has Tongues Wagging

Earlier this week, the news came out that the four Welsh EFL clubs were in contact with the FAW about entering the Welsh League Cup and potentially qualify for European competition – specifically, the Europa Conference League.

Currently the only way for Wrexham, Swansea, Cardiff, and Newport to play in Europe is via the Premier League, FA Cup, or EFL Cup. Swansea played in the Europa League during the 2013/14 campaign, following their EFL Cup in the season before.

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has openly said that the chance to qualify for Europe would be a ‘fantastic’ opportunity and that he hopes that ‘Proseict Cymru’ comes to fruition.

Nelson Jardim, manager at Newport, was slightly more coy on the news, suggesting that the club have not been contacted by the FAW about the proposal.

Certainly, having the EFL club back in Welsh cup competition would be a boost for the Welsh pyramid, but the cost of potentially losing a European place would be an interesting price to pay for it.

Certainly a fascinating time in Welsh football!

Results

Tuesday

Cardiff City 1-0 Millwall

Stevenage 1-0 Wrexham

Newport County 3-1 Salford City

Wednesday

Sheffield United 1-0 Swansea City

Thursday

Fiorentina 2-0 The New Saints

Fixtures

Friday

Bala Town vs Haverfordwest County

Connah’s Quay Nomads vs Aberystwyth Town

Newtown vs Flint Town United

Penybont vs Barry Town United

Saturday

Cardiff Met vs Caernarfon Town

Swansea City vs Stoke City

Wrexham vs Northampton Town

Sunday

Briton Ferry vs The New Saints

Bristol City vs Cardiff City

The New Saints vs Briton Ferry Llansawel

Cardiff Met vs Barry Town United

Aberystwyth Town vs Wrexham

Swansea City vs Cardiff City

Monday

Bradford City vs Newport County

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