‘It’s a derby – it’s a massive game’

Cardiff City may have had some difficult days in the south Wales derby in the last few years, but they have enjoyed their recent meetings with Bristol City.

The Bluebirds make the short trip to Ashton Gate today for the Severnside derby against Bristol City.

And despite their difficult start to the season, Cardiff can travel with some confidence given that they have won the last three games against the Robins without conceding a goal.

There will be a new man leading the Bluebirds across the Bridge, of course, with Omer Riza in charge following last month’s sacking of Erol Bulut.

Cardiff’s interim boss was in the dugout as part of Bulut’s staff for the draw at Swansea City in August.

And while he has only been working in south Wales since the summer, the former Watford coach insists he knows the significance of the Bristol City fixture.

“It’s a massive game, a derby,” Riza said.

“I know how important derbies are. Against Swansea we put up a good game and could have come away with a win.

“We will approach this in the same way – we will be high intensity, not allowing the opposition to play if we can and looking to implement our style on them.”

In truth, of course, the stakes in every Cardiff game are high right now.

Despite Tuesday’s victory over Millwall, Cardiff remain bottom of the Championship having failed to win in their first seven league games of 2024-25.

It will take a few more results before the Welsh club’s fans can start enjoying what so far has been a painful season.

And for Riza, every game counts as he tries to convince the Cardiff hierarchy that he should be given the manager’s job on a permanent basis.

“The players have been excellent. They have taken everything on board,” Riza added.

“Bristol City have been a bit hot and cold this season but they are not a bad team. They can hurt us if we don’t do things properly, but on the flip side we can hurt them.”