With the Bluebirds back in action this weekend, Brian Barry-Murphy spoke to the press to preview our trip to Blackburn Rovers, opening with a comment on the recent international break.
Proudly sporting the Prostate United jersey, he said: "I've enjoyed the amount of time we got to spend with the players and work on certain things in training. I also got to attend the international games here. The occasions here are always really enjoyable for myself, and I thought the first game in particular was really great for everyone.
"I watched two of the games for Ireland. It was a big achievement for Joel Bagan, a big moment for him to get his debut. Jack Moylan had a great camp, and obviously is in the limelight for how well he's doing, so I'm really pleased with his progress and how well he's done. His progress there has probably reflected his progress here, and he's a player than we believe can improve a lot.
"This early in the season, it's very important to focus on improving the players and the way we want to play, but also we can make big inroads into the physical condition of the players. That was the main objective of this extended window, and we feel as if we've used the benefits of that, hopefully to show in the next block of games."
It's been three weeks since City were last in action, and Brian provided a full fitness update ahead of our upcoming trip to Ewood Park this weekend.
"Yousef [Salech] damaged his shoulder in that incident [against Charlton Athletic]. He was back on the pitch on Tuesday, and we just have to check on him. He hasn't trained with the group yet, so we'll make a decision for Saturday after that.
"Dylan Lawlor and Will Fish are all good. The break has benefitted them, they've trained all the time and they are good to go. Calum [Chambers] is not back in training. He's seeing a specialist today and then we'll know more about his injury, but he's not close.
"Alex [Robertson] had some issues with his shins and a tight Achilles, so he wasn't fit to travel [to Australia]. We don't think he'll train today, but hopefully he'll be able to train tomorrow and be fit for Saturday.
"Isaak [Davies] is back in full training today, and has done a lot of work during the international break. Rubin [Colwill] won't be fit for Saturday. This is the first week that he's starting to make really good progress, so we're hopeful he'll join in full training next week and be back sooner rather than later.
"Ronan Kpakio is the last one back, so we'll see him for the first time today - Rob Tankiewicz is the same."
Our hosts on sit 16th in the Sky Bet Championship table, with Brian full of praise for Rovers and their experienced boss ahead of Saturday's clash.
He said: "I think their recent form has been very good. They had a really good result in the previous game at Portsmouth, looked a very dangerous team, and beat Millwall in their last home fixture 3-1.
They have a master coach in Tony Mowbray, who's done it all, seen it all. He's always been somebody I've admired and respected. So it will be an incredibly tough game, but one that we're looking forward to, to try and go and play our own game, play a really aggressive game and try and win.
"I think it's clear we need to do better. We are in a position in the table that we don't want to be, and our motivation and ambition is to improve that quickly."