Sunderland host Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon

Cardiff City manager Omer Riza has praised Sunderland for their “energetic, robust” approach ahead of this weekend’s Championship clash at the Stadium of Light, but insists that his side are aiming to break the Black Cats’ “spirit”.

The Bluebirds travel to Wearside on Saturday afternoon, and are aiming to widen the gap between themselves and the relegation zone. At the time of writing, they find themselves five points clear of the bottom three, with a potential six-pointer against fellow strugglers Luton Town to come in midweek.

For their part, Sunderland are fourth in the table, and will be hoping to narrow the gap on the automatic promotion places with a win over their Welsh visitors. Heading into the weekend, the Black Cats are eight points adrift with 11 matches left to play this term.

But despite the chasm between the two sides, Riza is hopeful that his side can cause something of an upset in the North East. Speaking in a press conference on Thursday, he said: “They [Sunderland] are a good young side; energetic, robust considering their age and playing good football. “It will be a tough game for us when we go away to them on Saturday. They’re up there and deserve to be there on the table, and we have to go there over the weekend and break that spirit.”

Cardiff’s last outing ended in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Burnley, but Riza is of the belief that his side can take plenty of positives from their display against the Clarets into their meeting with Sunderland.

He continued: “Elements of our game on Tuesday were good, we created chances but at the other end didn’t quite keep the ball of the net, and that’s what we’ll make sure that we keep working on. We’re focussed and know that we could’ve gotten more from the game, and move forwards. With games coming thick and fast, we have to be physically and mentally ready to go and pick up points.”

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What did Omer Riza say about Cardiff City’s injury list ahead of their clash with Sunderland?

Addressing Cardiff’s fitness concerns, Riza admitted that Andy Rinomhota is a major doubt after being withdrawn against Burnley. He said: "Andy came off with a tight hamstring so he probably won't be involved.”

He continued: "Ash's [Cian Ashford] back was tight at half time, then we managed to get him through another 15 minutes. Then we decided to be cautious with it and he came off.

"Dave Turnbull is training, he trained today, did really well. Jesper Daland was on the grass, running, done some technical stuff with us in the morning. Yak [Yakou Meite] and Rallsy [Joe Ralls] did some training individually with the S&C (strength and conditioning) coaches, they are on their way back.

"Ollie [Tanner] has been doing some AlterG running (anti-gravity machines), so not his full body weight yet. Hopefully he will be back for Blackburn, the game after, potentially. Jesper and Turnbull need more training, Jesper missed five or six weeks of training, so he needs to be conditioned again. They are in on their days off.

“Dave Turnbull has had his injury and is finding his way back, he looked good today, we will get him involved when we can. Will Alves has trained the last couple of days, he will train tomorrow and he will travel."

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