Nottingham Forest deal already having desired effect for Cardiff City: View | OneFootball

The signing of Nottingham Forest's Ethan Horvath has already improved Cardiff City despite the fact he is yet to step foot on the pitch at the Cardiff City Stadium.

After a quiet beginning to the transfer window, the Bluebirds had a busy last few days in January, making a number of signings before the window slammed shut on February 1st.

The moves were made to help the club move back in contention for the play-off places, after some bad form post-November saw them drop further and further down the table.

However, the victory over Watford on the weekend saw some big improvements for the Bluebirds, most notably in goal as they kept a clean sheet against the former Premier League side.

They have now moved up to 13th in the Championship, just two points behind Preston North End in 10th with a game in-hand still to play.

City's January signings could help the side move up into play-off contention again this season, with their influence already apparent against the Hornets.

Cardiff completed the signing of Horvath on deadline day at the start of February, following a quiet transferwindow that saw manager Erol Bulut threaten to quit the club if additions weren't sanctioned by owner Vincent Tan.

The disappointing performances of on-loan keeper Alex Runarsson saw the Icelandic player return to his parent club Arsenal in January, where he was promptly released by Mikel Arteta's side.

This development saw the Bluebirds look to hit the transfer market to find a competitor to Jan Alnwick, who had performed inconsistently up until that point, which caused him to be dropped numerous times throughout the season.

Cardiff club noted that Horvath's signing was in part about his experience in promotion to the Premier League, with the 'keeper going up with both Nottingham Forest and Luton Town in consecutive seasons recently.

Horvath's impact was almost immediate, with the competition clearly influencing Alnwick in his latest performance in the Championship.

It was clear how the signing of Horvath is already having the desired effect on Cardiff's team, with Alnwick impressing after the signing of a rival keeper in January.

The American stopper did not take a place on the bench for Saturday's 1-0 win over Watford, where Josh Bowler netted a fantastic goal to earn the Bluebirds just their fourth win in their past 10 matches.

It was the performance of Alnwick in goal that caught the eye though, with the signing of Horvath looking like it lit a fire under the Englishman in the battle for the number one spot at the club.

The former Newcastle United and Rangers goalkeeper managed six saves against the Hornets at Vicarage Road, compared to the one shot stopped by his Watford counterpart Ben Hamer.

1.52 goals in the game, while also keeping his passes largely accurate, completing 62% of them throughout the match, and the stats show a clear improvement over his normal performances under Bulut so far this season.

Alnwick has prevented an average of 0.92 goals per match in the league so far this season, saving an average of 2.8 shots per 90 minutes.

He looked more confident in goal during the game, with the impending challenge of Horvath likely a key factor.

He will know he needs to perform well to keep his place in the side, so he will be motivated to put on the best performances he can week in, week out.

With the aforementioned Runarsson failing to impress during his time at the Cardiff City Stadium, the constant changing of keepers due to poor form did nothing to inspire confidence in them - or the defence for that matter.

While it is expected that Horvath will become a key starter for the Bluebirds at some point, Alnwick will be doing all he can to keep the new signing out of the team, and more performances like the one against Watford will do just that for the Englishman.