The January transfer window headache in-form star has given Cardiff City boss Neil Harris

Bluebirds boss Neil Harris has made it clear that there are likely to be casualties next month and with five senior strikers on the books, something has to give

Neil Harris has made clear in recent weeks that there are likely to be departures when the January transfer window opens.

The Bluebirds have a bloated squad with close to 30 senior players on the books and the manager will likely have identified some of the key areas which need trimming down.

One area in particular is up front.

The Bluebirds have five senior strikers — Gary Madine, Danny Ward, Robert Glatzel, Omar Bogle and Isaac Vassell — and, frankly, something has to give.

Each of them, of course, have their merits. While the goal count hasn't been incredibly high this season, they have all acquitted relatively themselves well when afforded the chance.

But none have set the world alight and all of them can't stay.

Glatzel was the marquee signing in the summer and, although he has struggled with fitness, has looked a solid acquisition and a player who, if he hits his straps, could be a right handful.

Madine looked a dead cert to be the first out the door in January, but has enjoyed something of a renaissance under Harris, turning out a handful of impressive performances in the last month.

He is still without a goal, but has come desperately close in recent weeks. A world-class save from Jack Butland denied him against Stoke City and the official's offside flag caused the heartbreak against Barnsley at the weekend.

And then there is Ward, who has looked the most likely to score all season and proved once again what a top finisher he is against the Tykes, finishing superbly well to level the game at two apiece just minutes after being introduced.

He has bagged four in his last nine games, averaging just over 100 minutes per goal, and is giving the manager a real selection headache with Glatzel poised to return this week.

"Obviously Gary is doing well at the moment and Glatzel is coming back in," Ward said after the 3-2 win over Barnsley .

"Bogle is still around, so competition is tough when we only play one up front. So it keeps everyone on their toes."

It appears, though, that Bogle has just slipped off the radar in recent games.

As soon as Ward returned from his red-card suspension, Harris jettisoned Bogle to accommodate him and his decision has been justified.

While Bogle looked to be enjoying something of a resurgence in pre-season and at the start of this campaign for the Bluebirds, his stock appears to be slowly diminishing with each passing game.

Similarly with Vassell, who burst on to the scene with a dream debut goal — a 95th-minute winner against his former club Luton Town — and was barely seen since.

He then tore his quad back in September and we are yet to see him since.

The striker endured a torrid time of it at his former club Birmingham City, where he spent over a year on the sidelines owing to a nasty ACL injury, and many questioned his fitness record when Neil Warnock signed him in the summer.

But Warnock had been chasing him for years and he finally got his man. Whether he is Harris's type of player, however, is another question all together.

We are now hurtling towards the January transfer window at an alarming rate and decisions will have to be made incredibly quickly by the manager and his coaching staff.

Let's not forget, Harris might want to bring in a striker of his own next month, too.

So with Madine impressing, Ward the only one scoring and the club having invested so much in Glatzel over the summer, time is running out for the other two strikers to impress.