By Gareth James
Omer Riza believes Cardiff City are bouncing upwards again after guiding them out of the Championship relegation zone for the second time.
The Bluebirds manager was frustrated his team could not hold on for their first away win of the season at Stoke City at the weekend.
Cardiff led 2-1 going into the 95th minute, before they conceded an equaliser, but the point moved them out of the bottom three and Riza reckons it was progress since it followed their worst performance since he took over.
A 2-0 loss at home to Preston North End on Wednesday had put them back into the drop zone – after Riza had lifted them four places up from bottom spot following his interim appointment.
They seemed on track to claim all three points against Stoke, holding a 2-1 advantage in stoppage time thanks to a strike from Anwar El Ghazi and an own goal by Ben Gibson.
Cardiff City were seconds away from their first win in seven league games, but Stoke City scored a 95th minute equaliser ⚽
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But Gibson scored for Stoke late on and it means Cardiff remain winless in seven matches.
“We’re disappointed to come away with only a point,” Riza admitted.
“We needed a reaction from the Preston game; we’ve got that, I feel.
“All the players, to a man, were excellent — from the players who started to the players who came on. We just didn’t quite do enough to secure that win.
“The Preston game was the worst performance we’ve had since I’ve been in charge — and I wasn’t happy with it at all. I made the players aware of that, and they knew that themselves.
“We went away to Coventry, and we should have won that game. We’ve come away today, and we should have won this game.
“The performance was better. There’s still work to do, of course, but we’re under pressure, and we need points. That’s what I’m disappointed about more than anything today; we needed three points and we didn’t get it.”
️ “The boys that have come in today worked really hard and put on a good performance, but we’re disappointed not to get three points.”
Watch Omer’s post-match reaction on @CardiffCityTV #CityAsOne
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Riza made five changes to his starting line-up in an effort to spark improvement, and while it nearly paid off, key defender Perry Ng was a noticeable absentee.
Riza explained Ng’s absence and also provided an update on midfielder David Turnbull, who faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after undergoing surgery for a hamstring injury.
“Perry has got a problem with his hamstring. We will assess where he is at. Dave Turnbull has had an operation on his hamstring as well, so he’s a long-term injury now.
“We’ve got a few injuries now, and the squad is a little bit thin at the moment. But the boys are doing a great job to maintain the levels that we need in order to try and get something in games.”
Stoke captain Gibson said: “It was too eventful. I’ve been unlucky, there have been three of them [own goals] now. That’s something I have to eradicate even though the last two were extremely unlucky.
“Hopefully, I’ve showed my character to bounce back and get us an equaliser, but it’s not about me, it’s about the team and we know today is really disappointing.
“We have to be better. The fans are right to moan and make their feelings felt because that [performance] isn’t good enough for this football club. There has to be more fight.”
Omer Riza Describes Cardiff City As “Terrible” After Nightmare Start To New Era
