Brian Barry-Murphy says Cardiff City must look after their fit defenders when they host Norwich City in the EFL Cup second round on Tuesday (19:00 GMT).
The Bluebirds are in the midst of an early-season injury crisis at the back, with Dylan Lawlor, Calum Chambers, Will Fish and Gabriel Osho on the sidelines.
The absence of the four senior central defenders meant Barry-Murphy was forced to play right-back Perry Ng and left-back Joel Bagan in central defence at Derby County last Saturday, with Ronan Kpakio and Calum Scanlon the starting full-backs.
Cardiff’s only defensive option on the bench at Pride Park was 15-year-old Noah Anyadike, who could come into contention for a debut against Norwich.
Barry-Murphy may then look to Cardiff’s under-21 squad for further back-up players as he attempts to protect his frontline options before next weekend’s Championship meeting with Sheffield United.
“We treat every game with the intention of winning and that won’t change,” said the Cardiff head coach.
“With regard to Tuesday, with the players who have been doing all the training and all the playing – the back four we played [at Derby] are the only ones we have doing all the training and all the playing at the club – we have to be mindful of not pushing too far, too soon in the season.”
Having returned for a second loan spell from Liverpool, Scanlon (pictured above) played 80 minutes in Cardiff’s draw with Wrexham last Monday and then managed the full game at Derby.
“[It was] Calum’s first 90 minutes in two-and-a-half years so we have to be careful of exposing players like that again,” Barry-Murphy added.
“But we haven’t got many options at the moment.”
Jack Moylan suffered a dead leg at Derby, but Cardiff are optimistic he will not face a lay-off.
Joel Colwill, David Turnbull, Isaak Davies and Callum Robinson are among those who could come into contention for a start against Norwich having begun on the bench against the Rams.
Barry-Murphy fielded something close to a first-choice side in round one of the EFL Cup, when Yousef Salech scored twice in a 3-2 victory over Swindon Town earlier this month.
Cardiff reached the quarter-finals of the competition last season, their best run since they were beaten in the final by Liverpool in 2012.
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