Cardiff staying calm as wait for victory goes on

[Huw Evans Picture Agency] Cardiff City are one of only one four teams throughout the EFL still waiting to register a first league victory of 2026-27. Two of the other three – Burnley and Doncaster Rovers – are bottom of their respective divisions. The other winless club, MK Dons, are 20th in League One having drawn five of their opening six league games. Cardiff have four draws from seven outings, a return which leaves them 21st in the Championship and only outside the bottom three on goal difference. The Bluebirds have a final chance to register a maiden victory before the season's first international break when Charlton Athletic come to Wales this Saturday. A win would be timely, especially as there will be three weeks to wait for Cardiff's next game thanks to the newly elongated international window. Yet a typically calm Brian Barry-Murphy has brushed off the suggestion that there is pressure to deliver a result, insisting the "only focus" for his players and staff is on trying to find a way past Charlton. [Getty Images] "The players gave it absolutely everything [Bolton] and it will be the same next weekend," the Cardiff head coach said. Cardiff are unbeaten on their own ground in the league this season, where they have come behind on three occasions to secure three straight draws. Having escaped with a point against Wrexham thanks to Rubin Colwill's last-gasp leveller on the opening weekend, Cardiff have come away from draws against Sheffield United and Stoke City believing they ought to have won. Now the challenge for Barry-Murphy's players is to overcome a Charlton side who have not won in four matches but have lost only once in the league this season. Nathan Jones' (pictured above) sixth-placed team have not scored many goals – Lincoln are the only club in the division with a lower tally – but have not conceded many either. "We go back to our stadium where we have performed exceptionally well," Barry-Murphy added. "If we play to the same level we have in recent games – not all the games because we weren't at the level we wanted to be at QPR and Portsmouth – then we will [start to] win for sure."