Rudy Gestede Makes Welcome Cardiff City Return

Cardiff City's tall French striker Rudy Gestede made a welcome return to action last night as the Development squad triumphed over Charlton Athletic. It had been a frustrating time for Gestede, ruled out with a knee injury since before the season started.

Unfortunately for Rudy, that injury saw him miss out on a full pre-season regime where he would have had the chance to feature in the warm-up games. His opportunities now look increasingly limited with Heidar Helguson brought in and Craig Bellamy and Etien Velikonja providing competition in the strikers department.

Gestede is raw, but has potential and possesses an impressive leap that saw him cause many problems for Championship defenses and the likes of Agger and Skrtel for Liverpool. However, if he is to develop - he needs gametime and looks unlikely to get that during Cardiff City's promotion chasing campaign - especially starting so far behind his team-mates in terms of fitness.

Potentially a loan deal would be an option for Gestede, allowing him to build fitness and earn valuable first team football. Malky likes his young players to remain with the squad, and benefit from his coaching team - but Gestede's case is somewhat different and he would surely benefit from a 1-3 months in League 1 or 2.

Either way, it's good to see the French striker back to fitness and available for selection if required. Hopefully, he can avoid the multiple injury niggles of last season and come back stronger and ready to fight for a place. If nothing else, he certainly offers a 'different' option !

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