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Preview: Huddersfield Town vs. Cardiff City

Sports Mole looks ahead to Saturday's Championship clash between Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City at the John Smith's Stadium.

Cardiff City will be looking to pick up just their second league victory of 2015 when they travel to the John Smith's Stadium to take on Huddersfield Town this weekend.

It has not been a kind year for the Bluebirds thus far, and they find themselves on a seven-match winless run in all competitions, although they have at least stopped the run of defeats with three consecutive draws.

Even so, no team is in worse form in the Championship right now, with Cardiff's recent slump seeing them slip down to 15th place, one below Saturday's opponents and only seven points clear of the relegation zone.

They have won just one of their last 12 league games stretching back to November, although they were close to doubling that tally on Tuesday night against Blackburn Rovers, only for Rudy Gestede's 90th-minute equaliser to deny Russell Slade's side the points in South Wales.

The fact that Cardiff are back out on the road this weekend will not come as welcome news to Slade. His side have only mustered one league win on their travels all season, and only Blackpool have amassed fewer away points.

What's more, their record away to Huddersfield in recent seasons has not been good either, winning none of their last five visits and failing to even score in their last two.

Despite being denied victory at the death in midweek, Slade was pleased with his side's performance and could keep changes to a minimum on Saturday, with Matthew Kennedy one of those expected to continue having impressed on his debut.

Alex Revell is pushing for a start ahead of Eoin Doyle up front, while Tom Adeyemi will be hopeful of returning to the starting lineup in midfield.

Federico Macheda, Joe Mason, Anthony Pilkington and Kagisho Dikgacoi are all sidelined, however, while Fabio will undergo a late fitness test.

Huddersfield may not have been expecting to sit above the recently-relegated Cardiff at this stage of the campaign, but the Terriers find themselves a place and a point better off than their opponents, with just three points separating them from 10th-placed Nottingham Forest.

The tightly-grouped nature of the mid-table teams means that a top-half finish is a very realistic goal for Chris Powell's men, although they are still struggling to find any sort of consistency.

They have won four, lost four and drawn two of their last 10 games and, while that is enough to keep them at arm's length from the relegation zone, it will be a frustrating trait for Powell.

Town were not in midweek action but should still be full of confidence having held high-flying Bournemouth to a 1-1 draw at Dean Court last time out, with James Vaughan cancelling out Yann Kermorgant's strike.

That was Vaughan's third goal in as many games and he is once again expected to lead the line, although he could be rejoined by Nahki Wells as Powell opts for a more attacking lineup.

Jonathan Hogg made a short cameo appearance off the bench last weekend but it remains to be seen whether Powell deems him fit enough to start just yet.

Huddersfield's home record as been their major strength this season, but they have lost their last two games in front of their own fans. They haven't lost three league home games in a row since 2000, so will be keen to avoided ending that 15-year record this weekend.

The reverse fixture between these two sides back in August saw Cardiff run out 3-1 winners, with Kenwyne Jones netting a brace for the Bluebirds.

Huddersfield:

Recent form: LWLWLD

Possible starting lineup: Smithies; Smith, Hudson, Wallace, Robinson; Scannell, Coady, Edgar, Butterfield; Wells, Vaughan

Cardiff:

Form in Championship: LLLDDD
Form in all competitions: LLLDDD

Possible starting lineup: Marshall; Peltier, Ecuele Manga, Morrison, Malone; Moone, Gunnarsson, Whittingham, Kennedy; Revell, Jones

Sports Mole says: 1-1


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Jason Lowe of Blackburn Rovers in action with Matt Connolly of Cardiff City during the Sky Bet Championship match between Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City at Ewood Park on August 08, 2014
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