The points tally Cardiff City now need to secure promotion

Cardiff City have started to stumble, but they remain well placed to seal promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking. The Bluebirds have won just two of their last eight league outings, but still have a sizeable gap between themselves and the chasing pack, all of whom are vying for the second promotion spot, after champions-elect Lincoln City confirmed their place in the second tier over the Easter period. Brian Barry-Murphy's men face a tricky proposition at Cardiff City Stadium this weekend, with Bolton Wanderers the visitors to the capital.

Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community . Bolton currently sit fourth in the table, eight points behind City, and a win would potentially leave Cardiff looking nervously over their shoulders.

Nevertheless, City look to be in the driving seat - for the time being, at least. 1. Lincoln City P41 Pts90 2.

Cardiff City P 40 Pts 78

3. Bradford City P41 Pts71
4. Bolton Wanderers P41 Pts70 As things stand, Cardiff have a seven-point cushion between themselves and third place, with Barry-Murphy's men also having the luxury of a game in hand.

Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here . Bolton Wanderers (h) - April 11, 12.30pm Huddersfield Town (a) - April 14, 7.45pm Reading (a) - April 18, 3pm Port Vale (h) - April 22, 7.45pm Northampton Town (h) - April 25, 3pm Mansfield Town (a) - May 2, 3pm JOIN OUR CARDIFF CITY FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest news, analysis and much more The maximum number of points third-placed Bradford City can pick up now is 86, so anything that surpasses that tally will be enough for Cardiff to seal promotion.

That means Cardiff need nine points from their remaining six games to be guaranteed of their place in the top two. It may not even come to that, however, with Cardiff enjoying a vastly superior goal difference to both Bolton and Bradford, meaning eight may well be enough. This is on the proviso of course that Bradford win all of their remaining games, which includes a home clash with Bolton on April 25.

But Cardiff could, as things stand, confirm their promotion as early as the away trip to Reading on April 18. — *Sign up to our daily Bluebirds newsletter here and our WhatsApp channel here . Cardiff City correspondent Glen Williams is also on social media. He can be found on his X account here , on Instagram , on TikTok and on Facebook .