Not one of Solskjaer's starting line-up from Saturday's defeat at Wolves featured in the visitors' 18-man squad.
Cardiff manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has no doubt Federico Macheda will prove to be a big hit after he crowned his debut for the Bluebirds with two goals.
Solskjaer has known the Italian since he was a 16-year-old at Manchester United and revealed he will now play some part in Saturday's trip to Fulham.
Macheda was one of several players to take the eye as Cardiff's second string played some terrific football to claim a 3-2 win and knock a hard-working Port Vale outfit out of the Capital One Cup.
Solskjaer said: "They have given me food for thought and I was very pleased with what I saw. The passing and movement the boys showed is the way I like to play football. Some of the youngsters were fantastic.
"I've always known Federico is a natural goalscorer since I was with him at Manchester United. He practises his finishing every day in training and I have no doubts about him.
"His first goal was a poacher's goal and I would have put my mortgage on him scoring the second when he was one-on-one with the keeper.
"He's right in my thoughts now for Saturday. He will certainly play some part, whether that be starting or from the bench.
"A lot of the other lads out there are also knocking on the door, maybe not for Saturday but certainly after the international break.
"I've got a lot of players but it's not a case of trying to keep all of them happy. It's not a social club, we are a professional football club. If they play well enough they get noticed and get picked."
Not one of Solskjaer's starting line-up from Saturday's defeat at Wolves featured in his 18-man squad.
But it didn't take long for his inexperienced side to settle before taking a 26th minute lead with a terrific strike from Joe Ralls.
Michael O'Connor equalised in the 34th minute with a spectacular 40-yard free-kick which flashed into the top corner of Simon Moore's net.
Javi Guerra went close to restoring Cardiff's lead in the final minute of an entertaining first-half and it was no surprise when the slick visitors did score again on the hour.
Delan John whipped a low cross from the left across the six-yard box and Macheda side-footed a simple finish at the far post.
And Macheda rolled in his second 11 minutes from time when he took Guerra's pass in his stride, neatly side-stepped the onrushing Chris Neal and finished left-footed.
Macheda almost completed a hat-trick two minutes from time when his curling right-foot shot came back off the crossbar.
Michael Brown drove a stoppage-time consolation when his right-foot shot from 16 yards beat Moore inside his right-hand post, but the final scoreline flattered Vale.
Vale manager Micky Adams said: "I thought it was a good game with both sides playing some decent football. I thought Cardiff were excellent. Their attitude was spot on and they had a lot of lads out there who will think they should be in Cardiff's first team.
"I was pleased with how my players stuck to the task. I thought we deserved to be level when Michael equalised with a terrific goal and our next target was to stay in the game until the later stages.
"We couldn't quite achieve that and our second goal came too late to give us a chance. I felt if we were still in it with 15 minutes left we could have a good go at them, but it didn't quite work out.
"I decided to make a few changes myself because I've got a dressing room to manage. Quite a few of my players were short of match action because there haven't been any reserve games.
"I don't want any of them to stagnate because I want all of them to be involved. Some of them did well and there were pleasing aspects."