The latest Cardiff City headlines for Friday, February 4.
Morison tells youngsters 'no regrets'
Steve Morison says the upcoming trip to Liverpool is just reward for the efforts of the club's young stars, and has urged them to ensure they leave Anfield with no regrets on Sunday.
Cardiff are likely to give opportunities to several youngsters and fringe players for the trip to Merseyside. Several several first-team stars are cup-tied, while Sean Morrison, Joe Ralls and Curtis Nelson are also injury concerns.
"I was going to make changes anyway, but they’re somewhat enforced anyway," he said when asked about team selection.
"Uche [Ikpeazu] and Cody [Drameh] are both cup-tied so it's a really good opportunity to reward some of the younger players that have been tasked with looking after this football club over the last six months and trying to get us away from the bottom of the table.
"Some of them may never get the chance to play again at Anfield and may get that extra urge of the back of it to say actually: 'This is where I want to play all my games of football'
"Some of them will be scared. Some will be nervous. They should be. It's about how well they control that. We'll do everything we can to get them as well prepared as possible.
"We'll see what happens on the day."
Cardiff will be backed by some 8,000 fans for the game, and Morison has urged his charges to ensure they don't succumb to stage fright and trudge off at full-time wondering what might have been.
"We need to go there and enjoy it," he added. "You don't want to leave there with regrets. You don't want to be thinking 'I wished I'd tried this or I was too scared to do that'. You've got to go there and thoroughly enjoy it.
"You're standing there in the tunnel and start walking then all of a sudden You'll Never Walk Alone starts going and it doesn't matter who you are, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It's an unreal feeling and I'm looking forward to being part of that again."
McGuinness relishing Virgil test and sends out warning for Liverpool
Cardiff defender Mark McGuinness admits he's looking forward to the prospect of measuring himself up to Virgil van Dijk at Anfield, and insists all the pressure will be on Jurgen Klopp's men come Sunday afternoon.
McGuinness came through the ranks at Arsenal before signing on for the Bluebirds in the summer, and admits he still harbours ambitions to play at the highest level.
And he believes taking on the former Premier League champions will provide the perfect barometer for his abilities, and indeed his team-mates.
"Their squad's going to have a lot of depth and a lot of quality," he said. "We know that. They're a Premier League side. For me, you look at someone like Virgil van Dijk there, you always appreciate the best players in the world, especially in my position.
"He's a top defender at the best club. He's composed a big physical presence. A leader. All aspects I strive to be.
"It's the level I want to be playing at anyway, so it will be nice to see what the level's like.
"I'm sure there will be plenty of people looking for shirts and everything. It's going to be a big occasion. But at the end of the day it's a football match. We can't lose sight of that. It's nice to go up there and play against a top side, but it's still another game in a competition we'd like to do well in."
Cardiff are as far as 28/1 with some bookies to cause an upset at Anfield, but McGuinness says the Bluebirds will relish their underdogs tag, adding that all the pressure will be on their more illustrious opponents.
"Obviously the league is our main focus and going off the back of two good results helps us going into this game and we're feeling confident.
"It's not impossible. We're not going into this game to just see how it goes. We want to win. There's no other way about it. We want to go on and beat them. We know they're a top side, but with the players we've got we can give them a right good game. So we will."
"I'm sure there's a lot more pressure on them. We're the underdogs in this situation, but we're all looking forward to it."
FA Cup is massive for us - Klopp
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says he's desperate for his side to banish their recent FA Cup hoodoo.
The Reds have only ever gone as far as the fifth round since the former Dortmund boss took over, and have exited at this stage of the competition four times under his watch.
Few will be giving Cardiff much hope of continuing Liverpool's recent misfortunes in this competition, but Klopp is clearly not taking anything for granted.
Asked about the importance of the FA Cup, Klopp replied: "It's massive. Massive. We are not the most successful FA Cup team since I have been here! We are ambitious."
The hosts are set to welcome Harvey Elliott back to the matchday squad after a lengthy spell on the sidelines, while Naby Keita could also be in contention after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Mo Salah and Sadio Mane won't be involved given their respective sides are set to face off in the final in Cameroon, while there are fresh doubts over Thiago Alcantara.
Read the latest on how Liverpool are shaping up here.
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