Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Thursday, March 17.
Morison 'baffled' by international snub for starlet
Steve Morison revealed his delight at the number of Wales players heading away on international duty but let his feelings be known about the way young defender Oliver Denham had been snubbed in the past.
READ MORE: All the latest Cardiff City news, views, features and opinion here
Denham has been one of the most consistent performers for Cardiff's under-23s this term and as such is now a regular fixture on the bench for the first team. He has earned a new first-team contract, too, after an impressive FA Cup display against Liverpool back in January.
And, with three senior players and five under-21s all getting the call-up to represent Wales over the coming fortnight, Bluebirds boss Morison spoke of his pride at their selection - just rewards for some who have been overlooked for too long.
"It's testament to the work that has gone on at the football club," Morison said. "Players like Oli Denham that have been overlooked for the under-19s, 20s, 21s for a long time and some of the people get in those squads and you just think to yourself, 'What? Do you not come and watch the games?'
"We were 11 unbeaten in the under-23s and still players couldn't get in the squad. It's baffling at times. But it is what it is, they've got their rewards now. We have got two or three on standby for the under-21s especially, so there could be a few more if anyone pulls out.
"But it's thoroughly deserved. I'll be here for the Wales-Austria game, that'll be a great one to watch. The noise against Belgium was exceptional and let's hope they do the country proud. The players in the under-21s I hope they enjoy themselves, especially the ones going for their first camp in a while like Oli Denham."
Doyle: Home goal is hopefully first of many
Tommy Doyle hopes his excellent first goal in front of home supporters will be the first of many.
The Bluebirds playmaker slotted home after a fantastically-worked team move to level the scoring against Stoke City on Wednesday night, his second in a Cardiff shot but his first in the Welsh capital.
He hopes there is more to come on that front, saying: "It’s my first goal here, and hopefully it’s the first of many! Obviously after the international break we’ll kick on, and see what happens.
“It was an important win going into the international break, and I think it was needed. We’ve been playing well, and obviously today I think we played very well also. First and foremost, we didn’t deserve to go 1-0 down. But, it happens in football, and I think we’ve got the togetherness and the fight - like you’ve just seen, we’ve bounced back from that, and to score two goals like we did and win the game is important.”
After the international break, of course, it's the small matter of the South Wales derby against Swansea City at home, a the perfect occasion for him to improve his home goalscoring form. And Doyle believes Cardiff, in the run of form they are in, will pose the Swans quite the threat.
When asked if he was looking forward to the derby, Doyle said: "Massively. For us it's that extra bit of fight and passion. But for us it's just about playing our normal game and our normal game is good enough to beat anyone.
"Hopefully we will go and get three points against them lot."
Harry Arter moves to non-League
Former Cardiff City midfielder has made a shock move to non-League side Notts County.
The 32-year-old has been out of favour at Nottingham Forest, despite being signed for £5m from Bournemouth at the start of last season. But he has played only 14 times for Forest, the last of which came 12 months ago in the FA Cup against the Bluebirds.
Arter was told he was free to leave the City Ground last summer, quite the fall from grace for a player who was playing in the Premier League with Cardiff just three years ago. He had a loan stint at Charlton Athletic in League One at the start of this campaign but made only four league appearances owing to a string of injuries.
And now he has dropped three tiers to non-League side Notts County, telling the club's website: "I'll be totally honest, [not being involved] has been the most difficult part of the past three or four months. It's been difficult going in knowing there is no game at the end of the week.
"Andy Reid, the under-23s manager, has been great with me. He's managed me as well as he could. I think with the season coming to an end to an extent, I feel like I really want to go out with a bang. I want to get something from a season which has been disappointing for me.
"There are no two ways about it. It's been as disappointing this season as it was last season. That's disappointing because I'm not getting any younger. Football careers are so short, life in itself can be short. I want to enjoy everything I can to the max.
"I'm coming here thinking I can help the team and I can definitely have an enjoyment to it, too."
O'Neill: I have to commend Morison for the job he's doing
Stoke City boss Michael O'Neill praised Steve Morison for the job he has done since taking charge of the Bluebirds back in October.
Morison's first game in the dugout was that helter-skelter affair at the bet365 Stadium in which Cardiff had to claw their way back from 3-0 down to earn a draw. City have been largely excellent ever since and now, incredibly, sit level on points with the Potters, who were in the play-off spots when Morison took over.
O'Neill said before the clash that the Cardiff side hadn't changed that much since they played each other in the reverse fixture at the start of the season. After the win on Wednesday night, though, Morison made a subtle dig at that very comment. ( You can read more about that here.)
And O'Neill could only graciously praise the City boss after his side's midweek defeat in the Welsh capital. "I think Steve's done a good job, there's no doubt about that," O'Neill said. "They were not in a good position when he came in and I have to commend him on that."
On the game itself, the Potters boss picked out two Cardiff forwards as the hosts' main threat.
"We didn't play well enough," he added. "We didn't deserve to take anything from the game despite going ahead with a good goal. We're just a bit fragile. You have to get to half time and defend your lead, we didn't defend straight balls down the pitch. It wasn't any real guile behind it but I thought [Jordan] Hugill and [Mark] Harris in particular had pace which caused us problems.
The first goal epitomised our performance. The two midfield players don't match runners, the centre-back should get across and see it out, the other centre-back should get across and possibly affect the shot a little bit more. Then you're level in the game having been in a good position.
The second goal is bad decisions. A bad decision from the goalkeeper to throw it out, a bad decision from Taylor to try to play in that area and then from being 1-0 up with six minutes to play in the first half we go in 2-1 down.
It epitomised where we are at this minute in time. While we had a lot of the ball in the second half, our quality in the final third was poor and we were suspect. Cardiff sat deep like we knew they would, they're good at it, they've got a threat on the counter attack, they've got a physical presence up front.
For the latest Cardiff City news and analysis delivered straight to your inbox, you can sign up for our newsletter here.
