Yahoo News Tonight's Cardiff City news as star admits 'frustrating' end to season and player to return for finale
Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Friday, May 3.
Alnwick: Frustrating end to the season
Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick has voiced his frustration over how his own season ended and vowed to come back stronger again next year.
Alnwick had a terrific first half of the season between the sticks for the Bluebirds and was markedly better than his competition for the gloves at that time; Alex Runarsson.
However, an injury just after Cardiff had signed Ethan Horvath permanently put paid to his season. Fortunately for Cardiff, Horvath has also proved an able shot-stopper, but Alnwick, who has been out for three months with a knee ligament problem, admits it's been a tough end to the campaign for him personally.
"Frustrating end to the season for me personally with the injury," he wrote on social media. "Plenty of positive to take from this year. See you all again next season ready for a big one."
READ MORE: Erol Bulut responds to Lazaros Rota links as Cardiff City transfer planning already under way
Isaac Vassell hits end of the road at Gas
It looks as though Isaac Vassell will not be signed by Bristol Rovers this summer.
The striker just cannot catch a break. After more than four years out, he started training with the Gas ahead of signing a contract with non-league side Bath City. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.
While playing for the National League South side, the 30-year-old continued to train with Rovers, with manager Matt Taylor previously not ruling out signing the forward after his stint with Bath.
However, Vassell's stint with Bath only saw him turn out seven times off the bench. It will hardly be a decent sample size for Rovers to make a decision on. And Taylor told BristolLive with regards to Vassell's future: "He has been [training]. But I think Bath had their play-off game on Tuesday so I think his season is finished. He's not come in this week on the back of that game. I think he came on for a 20 minute cameo in relation to that.
"We'll have a conversation with Vas in terms of what's next for himself but we've tried to give him the time and the opportunity with ourselves alongside some competitive football. As with some of our players, he's just not played enough football for such a long period of time and then the conversations at the end of the season will be for what's next."
Vassell played just three games for Cardiff after a £2m move from Birmingham City in 2019. He was eventually released in the summer of 2022.
O'Dowda back for finale
Callum O'Dowda looks like he will return to the fold for the final game of the season.
It's been a rotten season for the Republic of Ireland international pertaining to injuries, with the winger missing a huge chunk of the campaign after undergoing groin surgery.
He returned to action in March, but hasn't played since April 1, with Erol Bulut previously stating the player's season was over. However, it looks as though O'Dowda will travel to Rotherham for the end-of-season game.
"O'Dowda will be with us, but not from the starting XI," Bulut said. "I don't want to use players who just came out from injury. Now there are holidays, pre-season and everyone has to be fully fit. We will have the youngsters, but the opponent team also has many injuries. So we are close."
Rubin Colwill looks unlikely to have recovered from his strain last week to feature this weekend.
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Women bid for historic treble
Cardiff City Women are bidding for an historic treble this weekend.
The Bluebirds take on Wrexham at Rodney Parade on Sunday in the Bute Energy Welsh Cup final. Having already claimed the Adran Premier League and Adran Trophy, Iain Darbyshire hopes his side can make history with a clean sweep this weekend.
"We’re really excited for Sunday’s game,” Darbyshire said. “We’ve had a bit of a break since winning the Adran Trophy, but in that time, the girls have worked really hard to prepare for what is going to be a tough test for us this weekend.
"Wrexham have been a good addition to the league and we’ve had some great battles with them, but we know that if we play to the levels that we’ve set so far this season, we’re capable of coming away with a positive result.
"This is a huge opportunity for us to create a bit of club history. We’ve never won a domestic treble and it’s something that we set out to do at the start of the season. We’ve achieved the first two steps through some fantastic performances over the course of the campaign and we have to produce to that same level on Sunday."
Cardiff take on Wrexham at Rodney Parade, with the game kick off at 5.25pm on Sunday, May 5.
Wolves make Doyle signing permanent
By Jonathan Veal, PA
Wolves have activated the option to turn midfielder Tommy Doyle's loan into a permanent deal.
The 22-year-old former Bluebirds loanee has spent the season on loan from Manchester City but has penned a four-year contract to tie him at Molineux until 2028, with the option of another two years.
Doyle, who made seven appearances for City having come through the youth system, has played 30 times for Wolves this season as they look set for a mid-table finish in the Premier League.
Sporting director Matt Hobbs said: "We've never seen Tommy as a player on loan, and he hasn't acted like one.
"He's gradually earned more minutes and become more important, which I think is an ideal first year. What he offers to our midfield is something different to the others, so there was a huge amount of inevitability to this.
"He buys into who we are as a club and what we're trying to create culturally within the group. He's a great player to have for what we're trying to achieve off the pitch and he gives us so much on the pitch, so he's the exact type of player I think Wolves should be signing.
"If you look at the type of players we like to sign as a football club, they generally haven't reached their ceiling yet and have loads more to come. Tommy is a fraction of the player he will become, with the more he gets used to the league and the greater his understanding gets. I'm really excited for now but also his future at Wolves."
