������̳

Omer Riza believes Cardiff City's squad is edging towards reaching the levels of competitiveness the Bluebirds require to continue their improvement following the departure of former manager Erol Bulut.

Aaron Ramsey, Isaak Davies and Kion Etete have all sustained serious injuries, while others including Callum O’Dowda, Manolis Siopis and Jesper Daland only returned from short-term issues in last weekend's draw with Bristol City.

And Riza - who has overseen a loss, a win and a draw during his three games as interim boss - believes the Bluebirds can only improve as players return to full fitness.

He said: “We will manage to get them back to where they need to be and then you have a squad of 26-28 to pick from where they’re all fighting for their shirts and hopefully that gives us the competitiveness to really kick on.”

Meanwhile, Riza added that he will wait for news on defender Dimitrios Goutas, who was withdrawn at Ashton Gate as a precaution after a blow to the head, with Cardiff able to use a concussion substitution to replace him in the final stages.

“He was fine in the dressing room but it will be monitored by the medical team and [they will] deal with it,” Riza said.