Cardiff City play Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon

Cardiff City midfielder Sivert Mannsverk has fired a warning at Sunderland ahead of the two sides meeting at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon, stating that despite their lowly league standing, the Bluebirds are travelling to Wearside to “get points”.

The Norwegian joined Omer Riza’s side on loan from Dutch giants Ajax during the January transfer window, and has already made seven appearances for his new club across all competitions, including six starts. With that in mind, the 22-year-old is likely to feature against Sunderland this weekend, and is eager for his side to cause something of an upset in the North East. At the time of writing, Cardiff are 21st in the Championship table, five points clear of the relegation zone.

Speaking in a pre-match press conference on Thursday, when asked whether Sunderland’s comparatively high league position eased the pressure on Cardiff heading into Saturday’s contest, Mannsverk said: “I see what you mean, but at the same time we played Burnley [in midweek] and we played Aston Villa [recently], which, yeah, we were really low against Aston Villa, but [against] Burnley, we had a good game. Especially the second half was really good and we showed that we have the quality to fight for points against the top four teams in this league as well.

“We go there to get points and to hope for a win. I see what you mean - when we think the other teams in the relegation battle are playing against these type of teams we hope and we think that maybe they will lose, but I think we've showed that we can compete against all the teams in this league.”

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The loanee also went on to suggest that Cardiff should be further up the table than they currently are given the quality in their dressing room. He added: "I think we have all been talking about the quality in this squad. We know the quality is probably higher than being in a relegation battle - that's what I have noticed as well. But the situation is probably what's been going on since the start of the season - we have had some games where we could have got some more points.

“We have to accept the situation and know with the quality in the squad, we can have a good week and go into the international break with a good feeling. I see the quality in this group, it should not even be close to relegation."

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