Steve Morison insists Cardiff City 'can't afford' to lose Kieffer Moore amid Bournemouth interest as he rules him out for Nottingham Forest

Cardiff City boss Steve Morison has said the club "cannot afford to lose" Kieffer Moore before Monday with Bournemouth reportedly interested in signing the Wales striker.

Moore has not played since injuring his ankle against the Cherries before catching Covid shortly after. Indeed, Morison ruled the player out of this Sunday's clash with Nottingham Forest.

The Bluebirds boss reiterated that the club had not received an official bid from anyone with just three days left in the transfer window and hopes the player is still at Cardiff after the window closes.

"As far as I know he will be here next week. He is not fit or ready to start a game of football," Morison said of Moore.

"He came back into training last week. He had to have an injection over the weekend in his ankle because it's still not right.

"He has to tick boxes before he can come back into full training and we are not quite there yet. So he won't be available for the weekend."

When asked about the player's importance, Morison added: "We can't afford to lose anybody.

"We can't afford to lose players, we can't afford to lose games.

"Look, he's a big player for us and I wish I had him available for this weekend."

It leaves Cardiff in a slight state of flux, with their star striker having missed the last three games and due to miss their next one in a particularly hectic period of the season.

But the manager insisted that, at time of speaking on Friday afternoon, he had no news to give other than nothing official had been tabled for the 29-year-old.

"Until someone puts in an offer and someone tells me Kieffer Moore is leaving, nothing is happening with that," he added.