Ahead of City’s return to CCS on New Year’s Day, cardiffcityfc.co.uk caught up with Omer Riza.
With the Bluebirds kicking off 2025 in South Wales following an impressive 2-1 victory over Watford, Omer reflected on the final few weeks of 2024.
“Coming off the back of a win against a team like Watford, especially with their form being as it was at home - not losing in 17 and being a strong side in the league this year - it was a great result,” Omer began. “To their credit the boys had to work really hard to come away with it.
“It was great to see the fans who came out to show their support to the boys as well. They were an extra man for us out there and it was a real delight to be a part of it.
“We’ve had a few draws away from home that we should’ve won, and a few performances where we’ve not been good enough, and not shown the right quality or application to get the result, so what’s pleasing to me is showing that character to get out of a bad situation.
“Though we’re in the bottom three at the moment, winning against Watford will now hopefully give the boys the energy and desire along with courage and application to keep pushing forward into the second half of the season.
“Hopefully we can take that into the Coventry game; the same endeavour, work ethic and intensity levels to try to get the job done there as well.”
With a number of Bluebirds out of contention due to injury throughout December, Omer shared his insight on how staff and players alike have adapted in tough circumstances.
“We’ve had to use a lot of our knowledge and understanding of the game to put players in positions where we feel they can get the job done.
“The injuries that we’ve had has led to us playing people out of position, like Chambo [Calum Chambers] as a holding midfielder against Watford.
“We’ve also had Cian [Ashford] come into the team in the last few games where he’s done really well, and it just shows that we’ve got good youngsters coming through at the Club that we can rely on and use.
“The boys are all fighting, are together and I feel their support, which is important.”
After narrowly missing out on all three points from our recent meeting with the Sky Blues, Omer expects another type of challenge from Coventry City when they arrive in the Welsh capital on New Year’s Day.
“We ran Coventry City close at their ground in a game that we should’ve won,” said Riza. “But that’s football.
“It will be a different game again on New Year’s Day; Frank [Lampard] has had a little bit more time to settle the squad selection and team formation, so it’s one that we’re all looking forward to.
“We always want to win games and approach every game to win it. Sometimes it doesn’t happen and we don’t achieve it due to different factors, but we’re going into the New Year off the back of a great win against a team that is really hard to beat.
“We’re playing at home with a home crowd there in their droves to support the boys no matter what, so hopefully we can start the New Year with a good win.”