Interim Cardiff head coach Omer Riza felt a tenacious display in a 1-1 draw at Severnside Derby rivals Bristol City offered further proof of his ability to do the job on a permanent basis.
Ollie Tanner’s superb right-footed strike, arrowed into the top corner from 15 yards, put the Bluebirds ahead after 54 minutes only for centre-back Luke McNally to head a 73rd-minute equaliser, his first Bristol City goal, from a Joe Williams cross.
The match was marred by a serious injury to Bristol City’s Cameron Pring after 14 minutes, the left-back being taken off on a stretcher with a suspected broken leg after what appeared an innocuous foul by Tanner with no animosity intended.
Riza, whose second game in charge had seen Cardiff register their first Championship win of the season against Millwall in midweek, has made no secret of his desire to succeed Erol Bulut, with the club expected to make a decision during the international break.
He said: “We have taken four points from six and can only view that as a positive moving forward.
“I think it is plain to see a difference to when I took over and that I can lead a team by being professional in all I do. I have worked hard for this opportunity and, of course, I want the job.
“I know I am ready to become a head coach. Whether it is at Cardiff or not remains to be seen. There are no immediate plans to talk to the board, but I am sure they will want to speak to me about this game.
“Ollie Tanner has scored a beautiful goal and the players are deflated in the dressing room because we had the result in the palm of our hand.”
Bristol City head coach Liam Manning said: “We started the game well and again have created a lot of chances without taking enough of them.
“Over the nine Championship games we have played this season, I am pretty happy. We have only been beaten twice, but we have drawn too many and need to address that.
“I wasn’t pleased with the way we started the second half, but again the lads have shown great togetherness and character to fight back when things have gone against them.
“The injury to Cam Pring did not result from anything intentional. First and foremost, our thoughts are with him and I am waiting to hear more on how serious it is.
“It looked pretty bad and Cam has gone to hospital. It is an injury to his lower leg, but we are not sure yet whether it is a break.
“It was a great header from Luke McNally and not a bad game to get his first goal for us in.”
