By Jake Hastings
Cian Ashford just has keep calm and carry on to become a consistent success at Cardiff City.
That’s the verdict of manager Erol Bulut after the 19-year-old’s injury-time winning goal against Southampton on Saturday in only his second senior appearance.
Bulut revealed he has no plans to send Ashford away from the club to get more experience under his belt.
“I don’t think he will go on loan,” said Bulut. “I think the quality he is showing is very important for the club.
“I see it every day in training as well. He can be a little nervous so I think if he can be calm he will be a very good player next season for Cardiff City.
“It’s also important for those young guys to be relaxed, they were nervous when we came to the stadium, but I told them its like an U21 game just with a few more people watching.
“They laughed and hopefully this relaxed them a little bit.”
A preview of todays match between @CardiffCityFC & @SouthamptonFC #EFL #Championship #Football pic.twitter.com/QdwHOGtm3l
— Jake Hastings (@jakewhu16) April 20, 2024
Bulut also praised fellow academy product Raheem Conte, who also came on late in the game to impressive effect.
“I think Raheem did a great as he is normally a winger and we had to play him as a full-back as the Southampton winger was quick and Raheem is as well.
“So I think it was a good choice bringing him on.”
Bulut said the importance of the Academy was never better illustrated than in a match where Ashford, Conte and the left-sided Luey Giles all got on the field.
“Sometimes it is good when you are safe as you can give the players freedom,” said Bulut.
“I said to them before the game I only want positive thinking and any negatives can be put on me as I wanted them to play freely.
“We see three young players playing and I think this is really important for the future of the club, the Academy has been doing a really good job, so thanks to them.”
“This also gives a big message to the Academy that we always have an eye on them to come up to the first team if they are on the right level. Those three players had a chance and today they took it.”