- Published17 minutes ago
Cardiff City will be looking to preserve their unbeaten home record in the Championship this season when they host West Ham United on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).
The Bluebirds have three wins and three draws in the Welsh capital, giving them the sixth-best home points tally and the highest among teams who have played six home games heading into this round of fixtures.
That contrasts with their fortunes on the road, where they have taken just two points from seven games. Only Watford and Preston have fared worse.
"I think the games away from home were always more difficult because of the challenge you face, but for us [against West Ham] we're at home, back at our own stadium," said Cardiff head coach Brian Barry-Murphy.
"The pitch is in incredible condition; we've done a lot of work. It hasn't been easy and it hasn't been cheap. We've been supported incredibly well by Ken Choo (Cardiff chief executive), who's had to finance a lot to help us with the pitch.
"Liam [James, Cardiff grounds manager] has put it in great condition and for us the way we play, we have a highly skilled team.
"Obviously we have to have the players, but the most important thing then is to have a pitch that we can play on. It's so important for us and we've been provided with it. So now the next part is to try and play well and win."
Cardiff's inconsistent home and away showings mean they are 18th in the Championship at this early stage of the season.
West Ham, meanwhile, are eighth in the table and sacked manager Nuno Espirito Santo on Tuesday.
The Hammers, who are set to appoint ex-Fulham and Burnley boss Scott Parker as his successor, expect to win promotion this season and make an instant return to the Premier League.
"We can't wait," said Barry-Murphy, whose Cardiff side were promoted from League One last season.
"We worked all last season for games like this, against teams of the calibre we're going to face and we want to test ourselves, compete against them.
"We know the qualities, they're clear, but we believe we can win."
