Cardiff City's injury crisis has deepened ahead of West Ham's visit, with Brian Barry-Murphy facing mounting selection headaches and fresh concerns

Cardiff City's injury crisis is threatening to spiral out of control, with as many as eight players potentially unavailable for Wednesday night's daunting Championship clash with West Ham United.

The Bluebirds' defensive ranks have been decimated in recent weeks and things went from bad to worse during Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Wolves, with Brian Barry-Murphy revealing fresh concerns over Will Fish, Perry Ng and Alex Robertson.

It leaves Cardiff facing the very real prospect of another makeshift backline against the Hammers, with the squad being stretched to breaking point at a crucial stage of the season.

Indeed, Barry-Murphy had to deploy winger Ollie Tanner operating at left-back during the closing stages at Molinexu, while midfielder Joel Colwill filled in at right-back as Ng was pressed into action at centre-half despite struggling with his own fitness.

The situation is particularly alarming given Cardiff were already without Gabriel Osho, who has one game remaining on his suspension, and injured central defenders Dylan Lawlor and Calum Chambers.

Both Lawlor and Chambers are expected to remain sidelined until after the November international break with hamstring and knee problems respectively.

And Fish, who only recently returned from hernia surgery, is now another major doubt after suffering a hamstring issue against Wolves.

Barry-Murphy admitted the situation was becoming all too familiar after being forced to contend with a similarly debilitating defensive injury list earlier in the campaign.

"I think we spoke earlier in the season when four of our centre-backs were injured, and I incorrectly presumed that could never happen again. But it has," the Cardiff boss said.

"I can't express how grateful I am. I asked Ollie Tanner to play left-back, he did it and gave it everything. Joel Colwill, when he played right-back, gave it everything.

"Perry, when he played centre-back, gave it everything, and he's been struggling.

"Will Fish had a sore hamstring, so we had to take him off. Alex Robertson's got a sore Achilles.

"The guys are giving everything for the club. That's why I say I can't be too critical of anything that we've done, apart from trying to make the players aware of what we have to do better to be competitive in these types of games and give ourselves a chance to win.

"Because despite all the stuff you're speaking about, we came here to win.

"And on Wednesday we're going to rock back up at our stadium, go for the win and try to win."

Fish's injury is a particularly worrying development given Cardiff's shortage of natural centre-backs.

The defender was already experiencing discomfort at half-time against Wolves, but Barry-Murphy initially elected to keep him on the pitch in the hope of mounting a comeback.

However, with the risk of aggravating the problem increasing, the Cardiff boss eventually had little choice but to withdraw him.

Asked whether the issue was minor, Barry-Murphy admitted: "I don't know. He was a little bit sore at half-time.

"Perry could obviously do it [play centre-back], but we have so little cover there.

"We wanted to try to get back in the game. We felt as if we got the next goal, we could win, so we left him on the pitch.

"But then the longer it goes with a hamstring issue, the more of a risk it becomes, so we had to get him off the pitch."

That leaves Cardiff desperately hoping Krystian Bielik can return in time for Wednesday's encounter.

The Poland international has missed the last two matches after suffering a groin problem in the warm-up before the victory over Birmingham City, although there is at least some encouragement surrounding his recovery.

"Krystian's groin injury is a lot better," Barry-Murphy said.

"He did some training today, so we'll see how he is for Wednesday. But I don't know."

There is also concern further up the pitch, with influential midfielder Robertson nursing an Achilles issue.

The Australian has been a key component of Barry-Murphy's midfield this season and his absence would represent another sizeable blow ahead of the visit of West Ham.

"Alex's Achilles is a slight issue for us moving forward, but hopefully by getting him off at the stage we did, he can be fit for Wednesday," Barry-Murphy explained. "That was the idea."

Should Robertson fail to recover, Barry-Murphy may face a straight choice between David Turnbull and 17-year-old Charlie Holt to fill the void.

Holt was handed his senior Cardiff debut at Molineux on Saturday and is clearly a youngster in whom Barry-Murphy sees considerable potential. But throwing him into the starting XI against a West Ham side boasting significant Premier League experience would represent an enormous challenge at such an early stage of his career.

Meanwhile, Isaak Davies was a mystery absentee from Cardiff's matchday squad at Wolves, with no explanation yet provided for his omission. It remains unclear whether the attacker will be available for Wednesday's game.

That takes the number of players either unavailable or facing uncertainty to eight, with Bielik's fitness another matter to monitor in the coming days.

Of course, not all of Cardiff's selection problems are injury-related.

Callum Robinson has now been excluded from three successive matchday squads following Barry-Murphy's revelation that the forward had failed to adhere to the standards expected at the club.

The Republic of Ireland international has been training with the group, but there has been no indication that he is any closer to being reintegrated into the matchday fold.

And with Cardiff's squad now being stretched so thinly, the situation is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Robinson is thought to be among the club's highest earners and is a proven goalscorer at Championship level. Yet, at a time when untested youngsters and rookie teenagers are being called upon to populate the substitutes' bench, he remains conspicuous by his absence.

Barry-Murphy has been unequivocal about the standards he demands from his players, and that stance is entirely understandable. But it is perhaps reaching the stage where supporters deserve a fuller explanation of a situation that has now dragged on for several weeks.

The precise nature of Robinson's indiscretion has not been made public and nobody outside the club can reasonably judge its severity.

Nevertheless, fans would be justified in questioning just how serious that breach of standards must have been for the manager to continue leaving out an experienced and highly-paid attacking option during a period of such significant squad disruption.

Asked after the Wolves defeat whether he could provide any further clarity on Robinson's continued exclusion, Barry-Murphy was decidedly dismissive.

"No," he replied. "It's already been discussed. I think it's done."

For the manager, perhaps it is. But with Cardiff's injury problems mounting and a formidable West Ham outfit arriving in the Welsh capital on Wednesday night, the questions surrounding Robinson's absence are unlikely to disappear quite so easily.