Planet Swans ArchivesThe Swansea City midfielder is in line for a return to the side after injury as he looks to be the likely replacement for the suspended Darren Pratley.
And Gower believes that the key to the game on Sunday could be the midfield battle.
“Midfield is important in every game. If you can dominate that area, then you are going to get a lot of the possession,” Gower told the Western Mail.
“Pratley will be a big miss for us, particularly in these games where over the past couple of years he’s popped up with a couple of goals.
“His energy and general game are going to be missed, but I’m sure whoever comes in will do a good job for the team.
“The key to the game will be possession. We will be looking to keep the ball. When we need to put a foot in we will, but our main aim is to keep the ball, to keep possession and dominate the game.
“I think their players will be limited in what they can do because we will have the ball more than them.
“We could not be going into this game any more confident than we are right at this moment in time.
“We are nearly at full strength and everyone is raring to go and looking forward to it.
“I think without doubt Cardiff will provide the sternest test defensively for us,” said Gower.
“Their star men are playing very well and then there’s the fact we are away from home.
“The onus is on them to get a goal and they are going to have to come and have a go at us. It will be tough, but we’ve got a back five who have played together for two years.
“Hopefully they can keep their cool under the pressure and come out of it with another clean sheet.
“The Championship is already a great league and having players like Craig in it can only make it better.
“But I don’t think our manager will be singling anyone out for special attention. We will just play our game, Craig can play his and hopefully we can come out on top.
“I saw in your paper the other day about a six-day countdown to it, that’s what this game is like
“As soon as you get Cardiff everyone is telling you: ‘I don’t care what happens, just beat Cardiff.’
“It just starts building. It is a game that gets the juices bubbling especially this time with the position both teams are in the league now. There couldn’t be a better time for this game to come.
“On paper each team have got very exciting squads.
“A lot of individually exciting players, but, from our point of view, we are playing well together as a team, everyone knows what they have to do. We are passing the ball well and we are not conceding goals. Everything is looking really good for us at the moment.”
