Cardiff City

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Cardiff City could find themselves bottom of the Championship before they kick off against Sheffield United on Friday (17:30 BST) with rivals going head-to-head earlier in the day.

But Cardiff's plan is to have Derby County and Hull City in their sights by the time Monday's fixtures come along, with the two teams currently above the Bluebirds being mentioned as targets by manager Omer Riza.

Cardiff are currently in 22nd, a point off safety, with only Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle below them in the table.

Luton go to Derby in the lunchtime kick-off on Friday knowing a win would see them leapfrog Riza's side.

Then Plymouth – buoyed by last weekend's surprise win over Sheffield United – head to Middlesbrough (15:00 BST).

Boro, in eighth place, are still firmly in the play-off hunt but have lost their past two matches.

An away win for Argyle would increase the pressure on Cardiff when they step out at Bramall Lane.

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Yet Bluebirds players have been told to keep minds on their job as they attempt to retain their second-tier status.

"Everyone's aware what the scores are elsewhere when it's a later kick-off, but it's just about us managing our situation and performing the best we can," said Riza.

"We can't look at other games and think it's going to help us or not."

When asked which teams above Cardiff in the table he views as being part of the relegation fight, Riza did not discount the likes of Stoke City, Oxford United and Portsmouth.

But he said: "It's probably looking like us, Hull, Derby. That's probably it, if I'm being honest. But there's four games and 12 points and a lot of twists and turns to come yet and we have to focus on our own games.

"I am not looking at what [points total] I think it's going to take, what we need to do or might need to do. We are just going to have to stay present and stay in the moment, that's what's important now.

"If you start looking at what you might need, negative thoughts can lead to other pressures."

Sheffield United's blip could not have come at a worse time.

Three defeats in a row when you need to be increasing the momentum not seeing it disappear.

It's left Chris Wilder scratching his head - and around - for a way to rescue the Blades' hopes of automatic promotion.

They may not find Cardiff in charitable mood either with their Championship status still very much in peril and keen to bounce back from defeat by Stoke and return to the toughness that saw them go four games unbeaten prior to that setback.

Sheffield United have won their last five league games against Cardiff, their best ever winning run against the Bluebirds.

• Cardiff are winless in their past three league visits to Bramall Lane (D1 L2) since registering a 2-0 victory in April 2011 under Dave Jones.

• Sheffield United have won eight of their past 10 league games on Good Friday (D1 L1), keeping seven clean sheets in that time.

• Cardiff have lost eight of their past 11 league games on Good Friday (W3), though did win their last away game against Blackpool in 2023 (3-1).

• Sheffield United have lost each of their past three league games, as many as in their previous 16 matches (W11 D2), not since April 2011 have the Blades lost four successive Championship league games.

Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales

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It's been 22 years since Cardiff City last played in the third tier but, after two narrow escapes in the previous three seasons, there's a growing sense around the club that this might be one crisis too far.

Last Saturday's 1-0 home defeat against relegation rivals Stoke was a hammer blow to the Bluebirds' survival hopes, prompting boos from their fans at the final whistle.

Cardiff are 22nd in the table and, one point adrift of safety with just four games left, their fate is now out of their own hands.

Manager Omer Riza has been under pressure for months but, with time running out, club owner Vincent Tan is thought to be reluctant to make a second managerial change of the season.

Even if Riza does leave, though, many believe Cardiff's most significant issues lie with Tan and the board, who have been the subject of angry fan protests.

The outlook is bleak with a daunting trip to promotion contenders Sheffield United to come on Friday.

Cardiff host fellow strugglers Oxford on Monday and, with matches against West Brom and Norwich to finish, the odds are stacked against the Welsh side.

All is not lost quite yet but, having played with fire for a number of years now, Cardiff's luck might be about to finally run out.

Read more: Who will avoid relegation from the Championship?

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Cardiff City will be without forward Isaak Davies for Friday's Championship clash at Sheffield United – and are waiting to see whether he will feature again this season.

Manager Omer Riza also has doubts over defender Perry Ng who has missed the crucial build-up to a fixture that could be key to the Bluebirds' survival hopes.

Ng, who started last weekend's damaging 1-0 defeat by Stoke City, has only managed light sessions after picking up an unspecified issue, with Riza admitting he was "not sure" over the 28-year-old's availability.

Davies, 23, has been involved in all bar one of the last 10 games after returning from a serious hamstring injury suffered in pre-season.

But he has been ruled out of the trip to Bramall Lane with another hamstring problem, with manager Omer Riza now awaiting results of a scan to see if he can recover in time for remaining fixtures against Oxford United (21 April), West Bromwich Albion (26 April) and Norwich City (3 May).

Riza described the injury as "slight" and will hope for positive news.

The Bluebirds do welcome back Anwar El Ghazi after a recent back issue, while Andy Rinomhota has also returned to training in a bid to face the Blades.

Chris Wilder's Blades side have lost their last three to see them drop behind Burnley and Leeds United in the bid for automatic promotion, but Riza says he is only focussed on what his own side can deliver.

"Whether if it's us and we're going to survive or Sheffield United getting automatic promotion, you have to win games," added Riza of the challenge, which will see Cardiff kick off at 17:30 BST and knowing the results of several survival-race rivals going into the game.

"Whether they've lost their last three and their manager will be on them, or whether we've lost our last game - or forecasting we should lose because they're higher up in the table than us - the mindset is let's see what happens. We have to be focused on believing we can win the game."

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Cardiff City have four games to salvage something from their painful season by ensuring they avoid relegation from the Championship.

The Bluebirds have not played in the third tier of English football for 22 years.

But after a run of one win in their past eight matches, Omer Riza's side need to find some form - and fast - if they are to be in the Championship rather than League One come August.

As things stand, Cardiff are going down. They are 22nd in the table on 42 points, one point adrift of 21st-placed Derby County.

Over the last decade, an average of 45 points has been required to finish one place above the bottom three.

But this season, with a number of teams in the relegation mix delivering results in recent weeks, it seems more will be more needed.

Traditionally, 50 points is seen as the Championship's survival mark, yet last year Birmingham City went down despite reaching the half-century, while Blackburn Rovers were relegated in 2017 with 51 points to their name.

How many will it take this time around? That is hard to say, but what is clear is that Cardiff need results after last weekend's dispiriting home loss to Stoke City.

They have a testing trip to Sheffield United on Friday, before 17th-placed Oxford United come to Wales next Monday.

There is another home game against West Bromwich Albion on 26 April, before Cardiff finish with a trip to Norwich City.

Riza's players must hope they are not bidding farewell to the Championship at Carrow Road.

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Much will depend on the fortunes of others, of course, with eight clubs within eight points of one another at the bottom of the table.

Plymouth Argyle, who prop up the rest, face trips to Middlesbrough and Preston North End and home games against Coventry City and Leeds United.

Luton Town, in 23rd, have home fixtures against Bristol City and Coventry sandwiched by trips to Derby and West Brom.

The Hatters' potentially pivotal game at Pride Park comes on Friday, with the Rams then facing trips to West Brom and Hull City - who are just a place and two points above them - before a final-day home fixture against Stoke.

As well as Derby, Hull also host Preston and have away fixtures to come at Swansea City and 19th-placed Portsmouth, with Pompey meeting Norwich (away), Watford (home) and Sheffield Wednesday (away) before the final-day encounter with the Tigers.

Stoke's run-in sees them host both Sheffield clubs while going to Leeds and Derby. Oxford also face Leeds - at home - before their trip to Cardiff, with Gary Rowett's team rounding off the season with games against Sunderland (home) and Swansea (away).

The end of the 2024-25 Championship is within sight, yet everything is still to be decided.

For Cardiff, just like numerous others, there are nervous times ahead.

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Ex-skipper Jason Perry says the future looks "bleak" for Cardiff City as they lost further ground in their relegation struggle with Saturday's defeat at home to rivals Stoke City.

The result leaves the Welsh club a point below fourth-bottom Derby County and with only one win in their last nine Championship matches.

But former Bluebirds favourite Perry has sympathy for manager Omer Riza who he says has had "no support" from the club's hierarchy since being handed the reins following Erol Bulut's September dismissal.

After a late own-goal gifted Stoke a 1-0 victory at Cardiff City Stadium, Riza admitted he is not certain he will be allowed to take the club through their final four games saying, "I don't know, you've got to ask the board, it's not my place to answer that question".

Speaking on Radio Wales Breakfast programme Perry said: "When you're asking the board of Cardiff City, anything could happen, absolutely anything.

"They could give [the job] to him and give it to him next season. They could get rid of him and bring somebody in. This is the biggest problem - the board above him.

"He's got no support. I do feel he's just left there and on his own so he's just going to have to find a solution. He's going to have to gather the supporters together, he's going to have to gather the players together.

"What we do know is they need points on the board urgently. They've only got four games to do that but it is looking bleak."

Victory was a big step towards survival for the Potters who now have 47 points. Portsmouth have 46 and Hull City 44.

Derby County with 43 - and a much better goal difference than the Welsh side - are in 21st place above the relegation line, while inside the bottom three Cardiff have 42 points and Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle both 40.

"Just looking at the team, they're lacking ideas," added Perry.

"We see the constant change in formations, constant change in personnel and it looks as though Omer RIza is just searching for a formula, a team, a method to win and unfortunately for Cardiff City and their supporters he can't find that solution."

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Cardiff visit Sheffield United on Friday, before home matches with Oxford United and West Bromwich Albion. They conclude their season at Norwich on Saturday, 3 May when Perry hopes his old club will still have a chance of survival.

"I think that's the best Cardiff can hope for, just looking at the way they are playing, how results are going.

"That's not an easy game because they have such a big crowd, Norwich, and the players will want to give some sort of performance for their home crowd.

"Last game of the season you're just hoping Cardiff have an opportunity but it was a big defeat against Stoke City on Saturday, a huge defeat, and the players looked deflated and so did the manager.

"But as we speak they are in the Championship, they have four games, they need to group together, they need to find a formula, they need to find a little bit more effort, sad to say, but they have to do it for Cardiff City's future."

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Ian Walsh feels Cardiff City can take a "little bit of optimism" after successive away draws in the Championship.

With only five matches left to play in the 2024-25 season, the Bluebirds remain in the bottom three going into Saturday's huge contest with relegation rivals Stoke City in the Welsh capital (15:00 BST).

However, they are unbeaten in their past four outings, and ex-Wales and Cardiff striker Walsh believes the Bluebirds' ability to claim a point on the road in each of their past two away fixtures - at Queens Park Rangers and Preston North End - will give Omer Riza's side a lift for the remainder of their run-in.

"They're in real trouble. Every Cardiff City fan that I talk to, they are petrified of going down," Walsh told BBC Radio Wales.

"I think the two results away at QPR and the late equaliser at Preston has just given them that little bit of optimism.

"Can you stay up this season on 47 points? Cardiff have got 42. In the next five games, can they get a win and two draws, or two wins?

"That's what it'll take, I think, to keep them up. But that's the same with all of the teams.

"Listening to the manager Omer Riza, the players showed a lot of character to come back into the game [at Preston]. They had a better second half."

Stoke - who conceded in added time to draw 1-1 with Luton Town on Tuesday night - sit just two points above Cardiff before the meeting between the sides this weekend.

And Walsh feels a Cardiff victory over the Potters would plunge other clubs into trouble.

"You go into Saturday's game against Stoke, it's the old six-pointer," added Walsh.

"If Cardiff win that, everybody else is in big trouble because Cardiff then go to 45 points with four games left.

"I've just got a feeling that the result [at Preston] and the result at QPR, two away games in the Championship, they've all of a sudden kept themselves in the race.

"I would be delighted to have Wrexham, Cardiff and Swansea in this division next season."

There have probably not been many bigger meetings between Cardiff City and Stoke City.

A victory for the Welsh side could condemn the Potters to a place in the relegation zone, but Stoke also have the chance to put some breathing space between themselves and the bottom three.

• Cardiff are unbeaten across their past nine league games against Stoke (W3 D6), winning this fixture 2-1 at home last season.

• Stoke have failed to win any of their past six away league games against Cardiff (D3 L3) since a 1-0 victory in August 2007.

• Each of Cardiff's past three league games have been draws (1-1 v Sheffield Wednesday, 0-0 v QPR, 2-2 v Preston); the Bluebirds last drew four successive league games in December 2022, a run which included a 2-2 draw with Stoke.

• Stoke have managed to win just one of their past 13 away league matches (D4 L8), a 2-1 victory at Hull in February.

• Stoke's Lewis Baker has scored seven goals in the Championship this season; only in 2021-22 has he netted more in a single league campaign (8). Baker has five goals in his past eight league appearances, as many as his previous 52 beforehand.

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Cardiff City will have defender Perry Ng back for Saturday's crunch encounter with Championship relegation rivals Stoke City.

Right-back Ng, 28, has missed Cardiff's past two matches with injury, but has returned to training.

Midfielder-turned-defender Andy Rinomhota is a doubt, meanwhile, having hurt his back during Tuesday's 2-2 draw at Preston North End.

Winger Anwar El Ghazi remains out with a back injury, while goalkeeper Jak Alnwick and midfielders Aaron Ramsey and Joe Ralls have already been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Cardiff are 22nd in the Championship table with five games left this season, trailing Derby County in the final safety spot on goal difference, albeit a significant goal difference of 10.

Stoke are in 20th position, two points clear of the Bluebirds before Saturday's meeting at Cardiff City Stadium.

"Perry [Ng] will be back, he trained today [Thursday] a little bit," Cardiff manager Omer Riza said.

"Andy [Rinomhota] has hurt his back, so we will see how he is tomorrow. Ollie Tanner is still training towards getting fully fit.

"Ollie has been getting frustrated, he wants to play, but he gets disappointed with himself because he can't quite get himself back to the levels he's been at, which is normal with the injury he has had. Players are waiting to get their opportunity.

"Everyone has to be ready and the boys who came on [as substitutes at Preston] were very impactful. It shows that togetherness.

"We are going to have to put it all together to get those results we are looking for. Stoke is a very important game."

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Cardiff City are in "real danger" of relegation to League One if they don't show more urgency and aggression in games, says former Bluebirds striker Nathan Blake.

City could climb out of the Championship's bottom three if they beat fellow strugglers Stoke in a classic relegation six-pointer at Cardiff City Stadium on 12 April.

But Blake says they need to show a lot more fight than they did in Tuesday's draw at Preston, claiming they performed like a mid-table side with little to play for.

Yakou Meite's stoppage-time goal secured a dramatic 2-2 draw at Deepdale, but Blake says the reaction of the players immediately afterwards typified a generally lacklustre approach to a game they really needed to win.

"I'm looking at the Cardiff players, and there's about three or four on the far side celebrating with whoever put the cross in, and they're strolling, walking... there's no urgency or understanding of the position they're in," Blake said on BBC Radio Wales Sport.

"I go back to the goal David Brooks scored for Wales (to earn a 1-1 draw in North Macedonia). They get the ball in the net, and Brooks immediately goes to get the ball and takes it back to the halfway line because they think, 'right, even though there's only 30 seconds left, we can go and get another goal'.

"(After Cardiff scored) I'm thinking to myself, 'lads, great - you've just got a goal, you're in it, there's 93 minutes on the clock, you're playing at least 95'.

"Get back to the halfway line and show this Preston team that you're going to try to go for a winner.

"But it's like, 'no, we're safe, it's enough, we've not lost'."

The Bluebirds remain third from bottom on goal difference, behind a Derby County side who were held to a goalless draw against Burnley.

Blake says Cardiff will need to show more urgency against a Stoke side who are two points and two places above them in 20th.

"They're in real danger of dropping into League One if they don't buck their ideas up, because goal difference also isn't in their favour," said Blake.

"If I was (head coach) Omer Riza now sat watching that game back, I'd forget the whole game, I'd just look at that second goal and say 'look at yourselves'.

"They need to understand that where they are isn't good enough, and the performances they're giving at the moment aren't good enough."

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Jason Perry says Cardiff City's Tuesday night trip to Preston North End (19:45 BST) is a must-win game in their bid to avoid relegation from the Championship.

And the former Bluebirds skipper has warned the club cannot afford to drop into the third tier, claiming it would be "so difficult" for them to come back from League One.

With six games to play, Cardiff are below the safety of 21st place behind Derby County on goal difference. They have two points more than Luton Town below them and a four-point cushion over bottom club Plymouth Argyle.

Omer Riza's side do, however, travel to Deepdale on a three-match unbeaten run, last month's 2-1 win at Blackburn followed by two draws.

"It's such a big, big, game in my eyes," Perry told Radio Wales Breafast.

"Momentum is key for me when you're in a relegation battle, so they've got to get something at Preston. The fact is they've got to win in order then to go into the Stoke game on Saturday, another huge game for Cardiff, with a positive mindset."

Stoke City - two points and two places above Cardiff - also play on Tuesday night, hosting 23rd place Luton before their visit to south Wales at the weekend.

"You don't end up with six games to go in the bottom three by mistake," added former Cardiff favourite Perry.

"So now they have to get on with the job, that's where they are, six games to go and it would be so difficult for this football club to come back from League One.

"They have to stay in the Championship, so they have to fight for that jersey this evening and Preston would be one of the three teams, if you are going to get nine points to take you to that magic 50-point mark in the Championship, you'd look at and say we have to, we cannot lose, but we have to win."

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Preston have lost only twice at home this season but have drawn 11 of their 20 games at Deepdale.

Cardiff have won only twice on their travels, both away victories coming under Riza who replaced Erol Bulut in September.

"It's been a tough one for Omer Riza to come in," said Perry.

"He's still not found a settled team and that's not working for Cardiff, in fact they haven't got a settled back four, they haven't got a settled centre-half partnership and that's not good when you go into relegation battles.

"They've just got to group together in the changing room, show a lot more character than they have and ensure they go away to Preston and come back with something, but I think out of all the six games left Preston are one of three you would target to win."

After Saturday's visit from Stoke, Cardiff travel to promotion-chasing Sheffield United before home games with Oxford United and West Bromwich Albion.

The Bluebirds then finish their season away at Norwich City on Saturday, 3 May.

Cardiff City will eye a chance to escape the relegation zone when they visit Preston North End on Tuesday (19:45 BST).

The Bluebirds =find themselves undefeated across their past three league games, though it still sees them in the bottom three, level on points with Derby just above them but crucially under the line due to goal difference.

A win against midtable Preston could be enough to see them into safety, with Stoke City also within catching distance.

• Preston have won both of their last two league meetings with Cardiff, last winning more in a row over the Bluebirds in January 2000 (4).

• Since the start of 2020, Cardiff have won four of their five league visits to Preston (L1), winning this exact fixture last season 2-1.

• Preston are unbeaten in their last 25 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games played at home (W11 D14) since a 0-1 defeat to Watford back in February 2021.

• Cardiff have only won one of their last 11 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (D3 L7), a 1-0 victory over Hull in February.

• Preston's Paul Heckingbottom has won each of his last five league games against Cardiff City since a 0-1 defeat with Barnsley in November 2017.