Cardiff City deadline-day signing Bruno Ecuele Manga is absent from the Bluebirds' squad ahead of their Championship clash against Norwich City this afternoon.

The £5m central defender is rested by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following his midweek participation in Gabon's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Lesotho.

Craig Noone and Ben Turner are both still unavailable with groin and ankle injuries respectively.

Norwich include new signing Jos Hooiveld in their starting XI, while Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe is placed on the bench and Ignasi Miquel is left out of the squad completely.

Martin Olsson is available again having missed out against Bournemouth before the international break due to a family bereavement, which followed a three-match suspension.

Gary Hooper will have to wait for his first appearance of the season after picking up a dead leg this week having recovered from a calf injury.

Both teams are flying high this season, occupying third and fourth place in the Championship respectively. Their only defeats came against Wolverhampton Wanderers in August.

Cardiff City: Marshall, Brayford, Fabio, Connolly, Morrison, Ralls, Whittingham, Gunnarsson, Pilkington, Jones, Macheda
Subs: Moore, Cala, Le Fondre, John, Adeyemi, Daehli, Maynard

Norwich City: Ruddy, Johnson, Martin, Turner, Hooiveld, Tettey, Olsson, Redmond, Hoolahan, Grabban, Lafferty
Subs: Rudd, Whittaker, Jerome, Garrido, Murphy, O'Neil, Odjidja-Ofoe