Cardiff City boss looks ahead to Wigan Athletic trip after stunning Premier League opposition in Cup

As the Latics were exiting the competition with a 2-0 home defeat against League One rivals Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday night, Saturday’s visitors to the Brick Community Stadium were causing one of the shocks of the round at Turf Moor.

Wales international midfielder Joel Colwill fired the Bluebirds in front on the half-hour mark before striker Callum Robinson doubled their advantage nine minutes before the half-time whistle was blown.

Understandably, there was a reaction from Burnley after the restart, and they halved their deficit with the hour-mark approaching as former Millwall striker Zian Flemming grabbed his first goal since completing a permanent move to the Clarets during the summer transfer window.

However, Cardiff held on to claim an impressive win and will now turn their focus towards their attempts to condemn Wigan to a third consecutive defeat and a second home loss inside four days when the two sides meet on Saturday afternoon.

For Barry-Murphy, moving on from their own disappointment following a 3-1 home defeat against Bradford City was imperative, and he now urged his players to ‘put everything’ into building on a fine win against Premier League opposition.

Speaking after the shock win at Turf Moor, he told CardiffCityTV: “I think when you have a result like we did on Saturday, it’s very disappointing in the moment, but you can take so much from it.

“The feeling is never nice, so to come back on the pitch and try and put it right is always nice. We will train really well on Thursday and Friday, rest tomorrow (Wednesday) because it’s going to be a long journey back and then put everything into trying to give a performance even better than today’s if we can.”

There was further good news for Barry-Murphy as defender Perry Ng came through the entire 90 minutes at Burnley after suffering a back injury in the weekend loss against Bradford. The former Crewe Alexandra star is expected to be available once again for Saturday’s meeting with Wigan, although Barry-Murphy admitted he was less certain about full-back Ronan Kpakio’s hopes of returning from a heel injury.

When asked about the fitness of his players, the Bluebirds boss said: “Yes, we are really happy. Perry Ng had a sore back from Saturday, so to see him get 90 minutes is really good and early assessments on Ronan Kpakio are really positive, so hopefully he won’t be out for a long period of time either.

“I would say so (Saturday will be too soon for Kpakio), but I’m not certain, as I haven’t seen him because we’ve been away, but they had the scan yesterday and said there was no serious damage.”

Meanwhile, Cardiff star Colwill is aiming for more success as his side looks to build on their Carabao Cup heroics with a win at Wigan this weekend.

The once-capped Wales international has been in impressive form and bagged his second goal in three Carabao Cup appearances when he netted the opening goal in Cardiff’s 2-1 win at Burnley.

The 20-year-old midfielder has featured in 11 of his side’s 12 competitive fixtures during the opening two months of the campaign and has established himself as a key member of Barry-Murphy’s ranks after returning from a loan spell at Exeter City last season.

Colwill’s form was rewarded with a maiden call-up to the senior Wales squad, and he remained as an unused substitute in a World Cup qualifying win against Kazakhstan earlier this month before winning his first cap in a 1-0 friendly defeat against Canada just days later.

Colwill’s goal against Burnley has only added to his confidence after such an impressive start to the season, and his sights are now firmly set on claiming another win against Wigan this weekend that could lift his side to the top of the League One table if results elsewhere go their way.

“We go into every game trying to win, no matter who it is against,” he told CardiffCityTV following the win at Turf Moor in midweek.

“Wigan away now, it’s just another game where we are going to come, turn up and give it our all.

“I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve come in, and we are playing some really good football. Obviously, we’ve won a lot of games and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it from the start, really.

“There’s always more you can do, but it’s been a really good start, I’ve really enjoyed it, and I’m just hoping to continue that.”

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