Riza post-Oxford United | We made key mistakes

Omer Riza
Omer Riza spoke to the media after a 3-2 Boxing Day defeat at Oxford United.
Remote Stream

"We can't afford to make the mistakes that we made, or not show the urgency that you need to show to shut players down and stop things from progressing." Omer began.

"We made key mistakes in key areas. The first goal: losing the ball, not tracking runners. It was disappointing to give a goal away like that when there was nothing really in the game before that, and we had controlled certain parts.

"The second goal from a corner, disappointing, and you're 3-0 down before you know it. It's always then difficult to get back into a game.

"As a manager, you have to assess everything as it happens, bring players on that can change things. Towards the end, you can say that we scored two goals from the changes and the players, but it was all too late."

Omer Riza, Richard Shaw

With games coming thick and fast, attention quickly turns to our clash with Watford at Vicarage Road on Sunday afternoon.

Omer continued: "There are 60 points to play for - still a long way to go in the season. We need to move onto the next game now, which is Watford. Of course, it's disappointing, because we came here wanting to win, but now we're looking forward to the Watford game.

"We need to win. We have to go out there and do all those little things properly, all the little moments. Show urgency to defend properly, not get broken down, to be resilient. To get on first and second balls, to get the ball down and play with quality rather than turn the ball over, and punish when we get the opportunity.

"We need to try and apply this in the very little space of time that we have. We'll work on a couple of things and talk about them, like we've done after the game today, to try and execute things better.

"A win can change everything. We'll go back to the drawing board, back to the training ground, and get ourselves ready."

Watch more from Omer on Cardiff City TV.

Read Time: 2 mins