Cardiff City must go out with a bang this season to sustain what will be a frenetic transfer window

There was very little between Cardiff City and Luton on Monday. The main difference appeared to be that one side had a purpose and the other did not.

Luton are having a remarkable season, by far exceeding their miniscule budget to compete amongst the top six, despite an escalating injury crisis. More players limped off against Cardiff, but they dug deep and managed to fashion the only goal of the game. They appear to be propelled forward by the momentum of their own achievements, while Cardiff find themselves in the rare position of having very little to play for.

That is a situation of their own creation, with both good and bad repercussions. The fact that Cardiff are safe and comfortably so is due to the hard work of Steve Morison and his players. They dug themselves out of a mighty hole and had they not, Cardiff would have still had plenty to play for and these games would have been incredibly tense.

Achieving that goal also earned Morison a longer-term contract, which was deserved and also removed another layer of uncertainty. After a tense few months, no one would begrudge Cardiff finally being able to take a breath, but that does not necessarily lend itself to a fiercely contested final few games.

There is also the long-running saga of a wealth of expiring contracts. Morison recently stated that he knows who will be staying and who will be going. With five loan signings and as many as 10 permanent players departing, it is only natural that their attention may start to drift towards the summer and what the future may hold.

It’s encouraging to hear that these decisions have already been made because in the recent past, this has not always been the case. There has been a tendency for these things to drag on into the