as the first team encountered an injury crisis. Already without Tom Watson since the start of the season, Cardiff lost both Ferguson and Jimmy Nelson to injury in their next two games, defeats to Aston Villa and Leicester City. Nelson's injury ultimately ended his season, as he appeared only two more times that year, while Ferguson was plagued by injury, missing more than half of the remaining matches. Cardiff gained their second away point of the season in a 1–1 draw with Manchester United on 13 October with George McLachlan scoring his first goal of the season. With Ferguson absent, Cardiff struggled in front of goal, losing back-to-back fixtures 1–0 against Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday and dropping into the bottom six in the table despite possessing one of the best defensive records in the division. Stewart experimented with William Shaw, Francis Harris and Stan Davies in Ferguson's place but all were quickly replaced. Ferguson returned in a 1–1 draw with Arsenal, with Tom Sloan scoring his first league goal for the club. However, Sloan also succumbed to injury after the game and, like Nelson, would appear in only two further league matches for the rest of the season. Ferguson appeared in two further games, a 1–0 defeat to reigning league champions Everton and a goalless draw with Huddersfield Town, before again dropping out of the first team due to injury. Cardiff ended November with a 1–1 draw with Manchester City. Potter Smith scored only the side's second goal in their previous six matches. On 1 December, Cardiff were beaten 4–1 by Birmingham but, in their following match, they secured their first victory in nearly three months by beating fellow strugglers Portsmouth. Albert Miles scored the only goal of the game to give Cardiff their first win in 11 matches to move them out of the relegation zone. Teenager Walter Robbins, who made his professional debut against Portsmouth, scored his first senior goal to earn his side a 1–1 draw with Bolton Wanderers on 15 December but two further defeats on 22 and 25 December against Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United left Cardiff in the relegation zone again. Thirlaway and Harry Wake provided some respite for the side to end the calendar year as the pair scored both goals in a 2–1 victory in the reverse fixture against Leeds and a 2–0 win over Newcastle on 29 December. January–May Cardiff were