Cardiff v Charlton

Charlton have been hit by the loss of key midfielder Zheng Zhi for up to three months following an operation on a troublesome ankle injury.

His long awaited comeback two weeks ago against Ipswich coincided with a first win in four games as the side slammed the brakes on a downward spiral.

"Prior to the game ZZ was complaining about pain in one of ankles," manager Alan Pardew explained. "After a scan revealed an underlying problem, he underwent surgery on Wednesday.

"So we’ve lost a key player for a long time. It’s a huge blow because we’ve waited so long for his return."

But Charlton will have another key midfielder available for Saturday’s match at Cardiff after Nicky Bailey recovered from the hamstring injury that forced him off shortly after giving the side the lead against Ipswich.

However, Pardew will not be able to call-up 16-year-old midfielder Jonjo Shelvey who is on duty with the England Under-17 squad for this month’s European Championship qualifying campaign.

Pardew admitted he faced a selection problem at right-back after Jose Semedo replaced out-of-sorts Martin Cranie at half-time against Ipswich and made a big impact.

"It’s a tough call for me because Jose came on and did so well," Pardew added.

Striker Svetoslav Todorov has been ruled out for the next three games after sustaining an injury against Ipswich.

Pardew disclosed that fit-again midfielder Harry Arter will be loaned out once he has completed a number of reserve games.