Cardiff boss Erol Bulut accused his players of not working hard enough in their 1-1 draw with Watford.

The Bluebirds manager watched his side fade markedly after taking the lead in the 26th minute through Mark McGuinness.

The centre-half’s far-post volley from a Joe Ralls corner suggested a comfortable afternoon might be in store for the hosts against a Hornets outfit that had lost their three previous Sky Bet Championship outings.

But while the equaliser from Watford striker Vakoun Bayo arrived after a howler by Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, the hosts never did enough to win.

Bulut said: “The first 35 minutes was good, but I don’t know what happened afterwards. We totally changed.

“I don’t know why, whether it was pressure or they were stressed. In the end we have to be happy with one point.

“Perhaps after four wins in a row we thought we were great, but we have to work, and today we didn’t work as a group.

“I am satisfied with the start of the season, but not with today.”

It was a shocking mistake by Alnwick, which left the Cardiff City Stadium stunned.

There appeared no danger when McGuinness played a square pass with his team set to clear their defensive lines.

But Alnwick’s first touch was horrid, the ball bouncing off his boot into the path of Bayo who side-footed into an empty net.

Asked about Alnwick’s howler, Bulut said: “We played too many balls back to the goalkeeper which was not necessary.

“We created the chances for them. When we have the chance to play forward, we must do it. You can use the goalkeeper, but not too much.”

It was no more than Watford deserved, with boss Valerien Ismael insisting his side should have taken all three points.

They improved a lot in the second half, enjoying more possession and creating the better opportunities.

Ismael said: “We should have won, no doubt about that. When a team has lost three games and is low on confidence it is difficult.

“We didn’t trust our own quality. The mentality in the second half was very good and we did not concede any chances.

“We expected more points than we have but we will take it step by step. The goal we conceded was incredible, just too easy. But we kept fighting.”

Aaron Ramsey will miss Wales’ November Euro 2024 qualifiers, according to his Cardiff manager Erol Bulut.

Ramsey had already been ruled out of October’s qualifier against Croatia with a knee injury sustained in training last month.

But Wales boss Rob Page, announcing his squad for that fixture on Wednesday, said he was hopeful Ramsey would recover in time to play in the final two group games against Armenia and Turkey in November.

However, Bulut has said Ramsey faces at least two months on the sidelines, and that timescale will be increased should the 32-year-old require surgery.

“Aaron, we were talking about how many weeks he would be out, we were waiting also,” Bulut said at his pre-match press conference for Cardiff’s home game against Watford on Saturday.

“Hopefully without surgery, he will be out at least eight to 10 weeks.

“If he does get surgery, it will be up to 12 weeks. If something happens in these weeks, it will add 12 weeks.

“You could see, when he was on the field, he was great. He linked the game. We will miss him.”

Former Arsenal and Juventus midfielder Ramsey rejoined hometown club Cardiff in July and had been in fine form for club and country.

He scored from the penalty spot in the two games before his injury, for Wales in their Euro qualifying victory over Latvia and against derby rivals Swansea in a 2-0 Sky Bet Championship win.

Tottenham defender Ben Davies, the Wales vice-captain, will lead the Dragons in Ramsey’s absence.

Wales realistically need to draw against World Cup semi-finalists Croatia and win both games of their November double-header to secure automatic qualification for next summer’s Euro 2024 finals in Germany and avoid the play-offs.

Cardiff manager Erol Bulut’s gamble on resting Aaron Ramsey paid handsome dividends as his side beat Coventry 3-2 to make it back-to-back home wins in the Championship for the first time since February.

Ramsey sat out the game against the Sky Blues having played for both club and country last week and Bulut did not want to push him too hard too soon.

“Aaron was rested because he had had a problem with his adductor muscle when he was away with the national team and he felt it again against Swansea,” said Bulut.

“I couldn’t risk him getting any more injuries, but he’ll be back for Sunderland on Sunday.

“He’s a great, great player who has enjoyed a great career, but the players who came in tonight showed that all the team is important, not just individuals.

“We have to be a team and we showed we are a team tonight against a good Coventry side. It was a good victory over Swansea, but we couldn’t celebrate too much because of this game.

“We had to rest, work hard and then put in 100 per cent effort for 100 minutes to make it back-to-back wins.”

Dimitrios Goutas and Karlan Grant each scored their first Cardiff goal, either side of Matt Godden’s equaliser. Kion Etete scored Cardiff’s clincher before Godden pulled another back in stoppage time.

After four successive draws, Mark Robins’ Sky Blues – play-off finalists last season – saw Cardiff overtake them in the league table as they slumped to 15th.

“We weren’t brave enough – for the first 20-25 minutes, we didn’t lay a glove on them,” said Robins.

“We are normally braver and better on the ball than that. We turned the ball over a lot.

“I also felt disappointed by the manner of the goals we conceded. We scored two goals away from home and gave three away – that’s not like us.

“We don’t normally concede like that, and certainly not from set-pieces. We have players in the side who are better than that.

“We have got good players in the side who can do the job but for two thirds of the first half we didn’t cause them any issues. We had a good spell at the end when Matt Godden got his second goal.

“We’ve got to dust ourselves down and go again. We’ve got good players who can do a job, but they need to communicate better.”

Erol Bulut explained the reasoning behind his decision to keep Ollie Tanner at Cardiff after the young winger claimed South Wales derby hero status in the Bluebirds’ 2-0 win over Swansea.

Cardiff had lost the previous four derbies against their bitter rivals and were being held at bay before 21-year-old Tanner was sent on as a 70th-minute substitute.

Tanner, who was signed from Isthmian League side Lewes in July 2022 and spent the second half of last season on loan at York, scored his first Cardiff goal within 60 seconds of arriving and then won the penalty which captain Aaron Ramsey converted to seal matters.

Cardiff manager Bulut said: “He came from nothing and last season he was not here.

“When I had the pre-season, I gave everybody the chance to play and I saw that he had something in him.

“He has a good left foot, he has a good shot, he can dribble, he is strong on the ball. So I said I will give him a chance and keep him.

“I hope for his career he continues likes this, keep his feet on the floor. I said I would not give him away (on loan), I made the right decision.”

Bulut, the former Fenerbahce manager who has taken charge of passionate Istanbul derbies with Besiktas and Galatasaray, said before the game he had mingled with Cardiff fans in a city centre pub to understand the importance of the rivalry.

It was Cardiff’s first derby win on home soil since November 2013, which was a Premier League fixture.

He said: “To have a win is special. I’ve played a lot of derbies in my career as a player and a coach and I said to them this game was different.

“The fans told me it was 10 years since we won (in Cardiff) and this was very important for us. It was a must for the table and what pleased me is that we were really a team on the field.”

Swansea have yet to win a league game under Michael Duff and remain in the bottom three.

Duff was given short shrift by some Swansea fans as he went to them after the final whistle.

He said: “It’s part of the job. I don’t like getting beat. I’m not stupid.

“I’m sure there’ll be a vent at me, but I’ve been here before. This is where you see the true characters at the club.

“The ones that stick together, the ones that don’t blame everyone else and whisper in the corridor. There’s been a lot of change at the club. That’s not me hiding behind it.”

Swansea did not manage a shot on target until the final minute, with Duff adding: “It’s the lack of quality that cost us the game.

“I faulted them the last time we got beat because there wasn’t enough intensity, that was there today.

“We couldn’t sustain attacks, we couldn’t build momentum and every time we went forward we gave it away. That’s why we didn’t get any threat.”

Cardiff manager Erol Bulut was delighted with his team’s 3-1 victory over Birmingham – and hopes he can bolster his defence before Friday’s transfer deadline.

The Bluebirds boss watched as his side scored through Rubin Colwill, Ryan Wintle and Zion Etete and saw Blues’ Lukas Jutkiewicz sent off midway through the second half.

They did so having made 10 changes to the side which beat Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend – and with a makeshift defence as Ebou Adams lined up alongside Perry Ng and full-back Mahlon Romeo.

“I am delighted because today we played without centre-backs, we created a back three with midfielders,” said Bulut.

“After the opponent was with 10 players we get a little bit relaxed and thought the game was finished. It is not finished, sometimes against 10 players it is more difficult.

“We need centre-backs, today we tried to create centre-backs. I hope at least one, maybe two centre-backs.

“I cannot see anything, wait until Friday then we will see some surprises – I hope.”

Blues counterpart John Eustace felt Jutkiewicz’s dismissal was the turning point.

“I thought it was very harsh from where I was, Jukey was pushed over at the start, he was rolling over then he has turned to try and get the ball and he has caught the lad on the back of the legs,” he said.

“It is a hard red card, it is something we will have to look at and see if we can appeal it. I will have to have a good look again tonight.

“I felt the first 20 minutes caused us a lot of problems, their shape, we couldn’t get used to that. The early goal certainly helps them as well.

“I thought we grew into the game, we got to grips with their shape, we were better with their press, were higher up the pitch. We need to be better in that final third with the decision-making.

“Coming into half-time we were positive, we tweaked a couple of things and I thought we started the second half quite well then obviously the red card just changes the game.”

Cardiff boss Erol Bulut was relieved to get his first league win in a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday and believes it has been coming.

Wales skipper Aaron Ramsey had a hand in the opening goal of the game two minutes after half time as Ike Ugbo hammered in his third goal in four games since joining from French Ligue 1 side Troyes in the summer.

Barry Bannan’s screamer looked set to earn a point for Wednesday but Will Vaulks was adjudged to have handled the ball in the seventh minute of added time.

That gave Ryan Wintle the chance to step up and hammer home the winner from the penalty spot to give new Cardiff boss Bulut his first league win.

“I didn’t expect it [first win] to be so difficult. After three games, what we played, we were unlucky at Leicester and Leeds, conceding last-minute goals, so confidence was not like before,” said Bulut.

“That is why this game was really important for us. We could have been 2-0 up if (Callum) O’Dowda or (Yakou) Meite could have taken their chances.

“I think we deserved the win. Everybody fought and we really wanted these three points.

“Sometimes it’s not enough to play well. At Leeds, we played well for 45 minutes, 45 minutes at Leicester. We could have more points by now but 45 minutes is not enough.

“Today, for 90 minutes we were really fighting and we had our moments to make it easier for ourselves but I’m really happy we got three points for the morale of the team. It’s really important.”

Wednesday are still pointless after four games since coming up from League One.

“I think it was our best performance of the season today and we need to continue like this. After we drew level we began to control the game and tried to go on to win it,” said Wednesday boss Xisco Munoz.

“We need to improve on our clean sheets because at the moment we need to score at least two goals to win any game. We lost today because of some of our mistakes, it wasn’t so much a case of Cardiff winning it.

“I am very, very sad for my players because I know how hard they are working every day. We have lost the game because of some silly mistakes.”

Bulut confirmed after the game that goalkeeper Ryan Allsop has been given the go ahead to leave the club. He has been linked with a move to Hull.

“We got a message from his management. If somebody wants to leave, we don’t keep anybody here,” explained Bulut.

“For that shirt, you have to fight. He did it in years before but his management said they wanted to make their move, so we made our move also.

“We took Alex Runarsson on loan so we let him go.”

Cardiff manager Erol Bulut felt his team should have put away League Two Colchester long before requiring a penalty shoot-out to advance to the second round of the Carabao Cup.

Bulut presided over his first home match as Bluebirds manager since taking over earlier this summer but saw his side squander a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 before advancing 3-0 on penalties.

“We could have scored four or five with the chances we created but we made individual mistakes,” said Bulut.

“The youngsters did quite well and generally I was satisfied with the way we kept the ball. But we have to get better, we have to continue to work.”

A smart finish by Welsh international Rubin Colwill put the home side ahead in the 19th minute and it was 2-0 10 minutes before the break when Kion Etete pounced to fire home a loose ball.

But lethargic defensive lapses allowed the visitors to haul themselves level before half-time, as two close-range tap-ins in the 40th and 44th minutes by forwards John Akinde and Joe Taylor changed the complexion.

Bulut offered qualified praise of Colwill, who saw his penalty saved after opening the scoring.

“Rubin is a good young player who has to learn more things,” he said. “I hope he continues like this and he will then get his chance to prove himself.

“I see Rubin playing as a number 10 mostly but sometimes he forgets his defensive duties.

“He is now keeping his position much better instead of running everywhere.”

No representatives from Colchester were available to speak after the game.