Jones fumes at 'stupid' cup clash

Dave Jones says the Carling Cup is being undermined by fixture clashes

Cardiff City boss Dave Jones has added his voice to those unhappy at Carling Cup games being held during a week involving international matches.

Cardiff face Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday and will be without captain Joe Ledley, Scotland striker Ross McCormack and goalkeeper David Marshall.

On Wednesday Wales face Montenegro while Scotland take on Norway.

"It's absolutely stupid that we've been told we've got to play the games in this international week," said Jones.

"A lot of sides now in the Championship have a lot of international players."

Ledley is with Wales, who face Montenegro in a friendly on Wednesday, while McCormack and Marshall are on World Cup qualifying duty as Scotland face Norway.

On the same night Wales Under-21s face their Hungarian counterparts at Wrexham in a Uefa Championship qualifier, adding to the drain on club resources.

Midfielders Adam Matthews and Darcy Blake and defender Arron Morris are included in Wales Under-21 boss Brian Flynn's squad, while goalkeeper Josh Magennis is involved with Northern Ireland Under-21s against Portugal on Tuesday.

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Jones says such fixture clashes affect many Championship clubs and further undermines a Carling Cup competition that often struggles to be a priority for top-flight clubs.

He added: "We can't even delve into our youngsters because we've got so many away with the Under-21s - Ireland, Wales - so we're even hindered on that.

"So we will be using a lot of the YTS boys, whether it be on the bench or on the pitch."

Jones says the situation is ridiculous, but will not let it affect his side's approach to Tuesday's clash.

"It's not a problem for us. It's something we will have to get used to. We'll just get on with it," Jones said.

"It doesn't mean that it's right, but it seems a crazy decision to take your players away and then throw in a cup game which you cannot cancel because you've got international players away.

"My personal opinion is yes, they are devaluing it a little bit more, because now in the Championship there are a lot of teams that have international players, not just from this country but from all over the world.

"It just seems ridiculous that you could end up with a situation where you're just making the Premier League clubs stronger at this level.

"All your Championship clubs could go out of it [the Carling Cup] because they can't field teams because they've got no players."