Mackay chases one more
Cardiff boss Malky Mackay has targeted one more quality signing before the transfer window closes next Monday.
The Bluebirds play Sky Bet League Two side Accrington in the Capital One Cup second round on Wednesday and are expected to rest several players following their 3-2 Barclays Premier League win over Manchester City.
Summer signing Andreas Cornelius could start the cup match and, while the next fixture is on his mind, Mackay said he was still working hard to recruit another player.
"We're trying hard and we're going to make sure we do everything we can right up to Monday," Mackay told BBC Sport.
"We would like to at least get one more in, but it's not easy because they have to be players that bring more quality, rather than the quantity of bringing three or four people in in the last week and just filling up a squad.
"I've got good players here, I've got very good players here, whoever comes in has to add to that.
"That being the case, we are still trying. We are under competition from other (clubs) because that's what good players bring.
"But we're trying hard and we're going to make sure we do everything we can right up to Monday."
Mackay believes the win against Manchester City so early in the season will give his side the confidence they need to do well.
"The atmosphere in the city was incredible," Mackay said.
"The result and the way the players showed they are capable of consistency, that's what every manger and every player strives for.
"It shows them that belief they can play at that level against some of the top players in the world."
Accrington defender Nicky Hunt is not expecting an easy ride, but the full-back has aspirations of reaching the quarter-finals.
The defender started in the 2004 final with Bolton only to suffer heartbreak in Cardiff at the hands of Steve McClaren's Middlesbrough.
Stanley were drawn against the very same opponents earlier this month and produced one of the round's stand-out results as James Beattie clinched his first-ever managerial win thanks to a 2-1 success.
The confidence gained by such a victory has yet to transfer to Accrington's league form given they are still winless, but Hunt envisages a cup run on the horizon should they dump out the Premier League Bluebirds on Wednesday.
Speaking to Press Association Sport, the 29-year old said: "When you get good results away at Middlesbrough, a top championship team, it always spurs you on to want to do well in the cup.
"It gives you an extra bit of belief to get to the next round and even the quarter-final. I think that's a real possibility if we get past Cardiff."
Such lofty goals would have been commonplace for Hunt during his stint with Wanderers, for whom he played in Europe and made his Premier League debut against a Manchester United squad including a certain Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks for the first time.
And having faced lower-league opposition with a top-flight team before, he anticipates Malky Mackay's team will be thoroughly professional.
"Nowadays you have to give every team the respect they deserve," Hunt added.
"When I was at Bolton we played teams such as Walsall, Tranmere and we never once went into that game thinking this is going to be an easy ride here, we'll just turn up and win. We always gave them the respect."
Hunt and suspended former Manchester United forward Danny Webber will be sidelined, but Ian Dunbavin, in goal for Shrewsbury in 2003 when they famously ousted Wayne Rooney's Everton in the FA Cup, is expected to start.
Source: PA
