New Cardiff City boss Neil Harris believes mind games are being played by Lee Bowyer ahead of their showdown this Saturday.

The Addicks boss claimed he would be unable to field a full bench for the lunchtime kick-off at The Valley due to a mountain of injuries and a suspension.

With first-teamers Jake Forster-Caskey, Sam Field, Jonny Williams, George Lapslie, Tomer Hemed, Lewis Page, Ben Amos and Chuks Aneke are all currently in the Addicks treatment room, and Darren Pratley missing out on suspension, Bowyer faces a huge selection dilemma.

Former Millwall boss Harris however isn’t sure of the validity of Bowyer’s statement as he looks ahead to his first game in charge of the Bluebirds.

“Lee has spoken about injuries and not being able to fill a bench but we’ll see when we get there,” he said.

“I know Lee, it’s going to be competitive, a tough challenge at The Valley but a game we’re ready for.

“Charlton are possession-based team who want to dominate.

“They can be unpredictable in their systems.

“He was linked with the (Cardiff) job, but he’s done fantastic at Charlton and they’ve had some real momentum from last season.

“They’ve had a real strong start, but not so much recently.”

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Cardiff will leapfrog Charlton who currently sit 11th place in the league with a win on Saturday, while Bowyer’s men will be looking for their first win in five games after a downturn in form.

Harris, who stepped down as Millwall boss at the end of September stepped back into management last week in South Wales after Neil Warnock himself stepped down from the post.

Despite limited time working with his new squad due to the international break, Harris admitted he’s raring to go and get a result against his one-time long-time London rivals.

“We’ve had a lot of players away and had a long injury list.

“It’s good to have had a full week but some came back in on Wednesday and Thursday.

“It’s about getting the messages across while preparing for a Charlton team who are very unpredictable.

“We’ve got some great footballers in that dressing room.

“Players who are fit are champing at the bit to pay on Saturday.”

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