By Paul Jones
Omer Riza still insists he wants the Cardiff City job as his own despite the fact the club remain at the foot of the Championship.
Current caretaker Riza appeared to have done his cause a power of good when the Bluebirds went 1-0 at Bristol City and appeared in sight of back-to-back victories.
But the home side levelled 17 minutes from time to leave Cardiff still bottom of the table and three points from safety.
“We have taken four points from six and can only view that as a positive moving forward,” said Riza.
“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.”
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Luke McNally headed his first Bristol City goal to earn a draw from a passionate Severnside derby at Ashton Gate.
The Bluebirds took a 54th-minute lead when Ollie Tanner broke into the box, sent two defenders to wrong way with a clever turn and then hammered an unstoppable right-footed shot into the top corner from 15 yards.
But Bristol City levelled after 73 minutes, Joe Williams producing a fine far-post cross from the right for McNally to net with a powerful downward header and ensure a fair outcome to a pulsating contest.
“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,” added Riza.
“We wanted to dominate the ball and I felt we did that in certain instances in the game and we managed to get our noses in front.
“We are a little bit deflated in the end not to come away with the three points because the goal has come from something we’ve been working on, clearing our lines at the right times and not taking risks.
“The performance overall was wholehearted and the boys showed that they care about the supporters and care about the team.”
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Bristol City’ manager 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.”
Full-time scenes at the Ashton Gate Stadium as both Bristol City and Cardiff City leave with a point ⚡ pic.twitter.com/yiBdkysyUy
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 6, 2024
The Robins suffered a setback after 14 minutes when full-back Cam Pring had to be carried off on a stretcher after being fouled inside his own box by Tanner. It looked an innocuous challenge and the two players shook hands as Pring was carried to the dressing room.
Shortly after the restart, Cardiff had a great chance when the ball broke to Anwar El Ghazi just a couple of yards out and he contrived to clip the outside of a post with goalkeeper Max O’Leary spreading himself to try and block the effort.
After Tanner broke the deadlock, Cardiff pressed and Rubin Colwill shot wide from a good chance to make it 2-0.
But McNally equalised to leave Cardiff with just one victory from their first nine matches as they go onto the international break.
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