Follow our live updates from Crystal Palace v Cardiff City from 7.30pm, Tuesday
BLUEBIRDS skipper Mark Hudson admits losing the armband to Craig Bellamy last season has made him a better captain.
Hudson returns to former club Crystal Palace tonight looking to take the first step to leading his side out at the Carling Cup final at Wembley.
The 29-year-old central defender joined Cardiff in July 2009 and was appointed Bluebirds captain by then boss Dave Jones.
But the team captaincy was last term handed over to Bellamy, who was on a season-long loan at his hometown club.
But with Bellamy now at Liverpool and new boss Malky Mackay in charge, Hudson is wearing the armband again.
But he admits he owes a debt of gratitude to the Wales star, saying: ?I think the way ?Bellers? works and the way he trains helped me.
?The way he learns and the way he wants to be the best is impressive.
?That showed in the way he progressed in the season. I?m not sure what he expected when he first got here, but I don?t think it was what he expected.
?He grew into it here and that shows his character.
?The way he went about his business very professionally and expected very high standards, and that is what I want to see myself doing as well.?
Hudson was also the Palace captain for much of his time there, but returns to Selhurst Park seeking to guide the Bluebirds towards a Carling Cup final for the first time.
Hudson said he enjoyed his time in South London but insisted there will be no room for sentiment tonight, even if Eagles manager Dougie Freedman and his first-team coach Tony Popovic are former team-mates.
?Peter Taylor gave me the armband first at Palace. Then Neil Warnock came in and made me captain too, so I owe them both a lot for furthering my career,? he said.
?I had a really good time there. I was there for four-and-a-half years. I played with Dougie and Tony and they have gone on and done well in management.
?So we know it?s going to be a tough place to go. It?s a sell-out and the crowd will be right behind the them.
?We know we are going to have to be right up for it to get a result.
?We obviously have a good opportunity and everyone wants to drive on now to the final.
?We need to get a good result up there so we come back to our place with everything to play for.?
Cardiff go into the game lying third in the Championship with Palace 11th and have already beaten the Eagles 2-0 this season.
And Hudson said a victory was what he and his teammates would be looking for again.
?Palace were on a really good run when we last met,? he said.
?I don?t think they?d conceded in six, but we won 2-0. It was good at the time and good to have in your mind now because we know we can score goals against them.
?We know they are a tight outfit who work hard, but if we play the way we have been recently we know we will get a result.
?It?s going to be tough but we can?t go there and sit back, we have to go there and go for the win.
?At the back of your mind you know that a day out at Wembley is not too far away.?
'); tm.siteLife.daapi.getArticle( "54-91466-30088710", function(article){ tm.siteLife.display.displayCommentCount( article, 'sitelife-commentsWidget-middle', false, 'Comments', true, false ); } ); })();//call anonymous function //]]>mike mcqueary joe paterno fired joe paterno fired glen campbell matt nathanson matt nathanson rick perry oops
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.