Wolves' only goal of the match against Bristol City in a 1–1 draw. After Wolves signed new strikers Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and brought in Kevin Kyle on loan during the January transfer window, Bothroyd found himself out of first team contention. To gain playing time, he moved to fellow Championship club Stoke City on an initial one-month loan on 14 March 2008, later extended to the end of the season, which ended in promotion to the Premier League. However, after featuring in just four matches during his loan spell, he returned to his parent club who promptly put him up for transfer. Cardiff City Bothroyd remained in the Championship, joining Cardiff City, who beat off interest from newly promoted Premier League club Hull City, on 4 August 2008 in a three-year contract for a fee of £350,000. At the start of the season Bothroyd found himself in and out of the team as manager Dave Jones attempted to find his best strike partnership and, after a number of matches, Bothroyd assumed the role of first choice strike partner to Ross McCormack. On 30 September 2008, Bothroyd scored his first goal for the club when he found the net against one of his former clubs, Coventry City during a 2–1 win. It took Bothroyd just under a month to find the net again for the club when he scored twice during a 2–2 draw at Watford. Bothroyd continued in the first team but, on 1 November, he suffered a tear of his hamstring after just 13 minutes of a 2–1 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers, which was expected to rule him out for between 6 and 8 weeks. He made his return to the team ahead of schedule after three weeks when he played 66 minutes during a 2–2 draw with Reading before being replaced by Eddie Johnson. After returning to match fitness, Bothroyd found the net three times in six matches during December, scoring against Burnley, Ipswich Town and Plymouth Argyle, a record which saw him finish as runner-up behind Reading's Stephen Hunt in the Championship player of the month award. Bothroyd finished the season with 12 goals, but could not prevent Cardiff from slipping out of the playoffs. Bothroyd made a bright start to the 2009–10 season, scoring the second goal in the first ever league match at the Cardiff City Stadium in a 4–0 victory over Scunthorpe United. He celebrated