Omer Riza has demanded Cardiff City improve their focus in key moments after they lost narrowly at Sunderland.

The Bluebirds defeat was a reminder they are still in a relegation battle as the defeat chipped away at their advantage above the drop zone.

Cardiff remain 21st in the Championship table, just four points clear of the bottom three.

Riza’s men fought hard but ultimately fell short, losing 2-1 after Welsh international and Bournemouth loanee Chris Mepham struck 13 minutes from time. 

Isaak Davies had earlier drawn Cardiff level following Eliezer Mayenda's second-minute opener.

Striker Yousef Salech had a golden opportunity to put Cardiff ahead in the second half, only to be denied by Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson. 

That miss proved costly, with Mepham's late winner sealing Cardiff’s fate and leaving Riza frustrated.

“You come to places like this and if you leave with a point with the league as it is at the minute and looking at their form, you’d be happy," he said.

“We should have come away with a point, and it’s one lapse of concentration again with the free-kick and it’s a simple ball between lines and across the box for a tap in.

"We don’t score goals like that, or get given cheap opportunities like that.

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We’re frustrated, as we had an opportunity to make it 2-1 to us. If we’d left with a point I think we would have been deserving of it.

“Ultimately, we’ve conceded a goal in a manner that I’m unhappy with, when we’ve worked so hard. 

“We always say that when you come to these places you’ve got to be fully focussed, for 95 minutes of the game we were but switched off for that one moment and got punished for it."

However, there were positives to take, including Davies' goalscoring return in his first start of the season.

“Isaak has been out a long time with injury," Riza added. "He’s worked really hard to get himself back to where he is now and with a new contract as well, so it’s nice to see him playing.

“The plan today was for him to open up; he’s quick, aggressive on that top line and he’s got a goal today, so I’m pleased for him.”

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Meanwhile, Sunderland’s victory keeps them in the hunt for promotion, with Regis Le Bris’ side recovering from consecutive losses to Leeds and Hull to secure back-to-back wins following their triumph at Sheffield Wednesday last week.

With Sheffield United and Burnley also winning, the Black Cats remain eight points behind second-placed Sheffield United with 10 matches remaining.

Le Bris was pleased with his side’s strong start but admitted they allowed Cardiff back into the contest before regaining control late on.
"We scored early which is always a good idea and for 20 minutes we were very good, the way I want us to play.

"At half-time I was disappointed. The question of consistency is key. If we could have maintained that level we would have scored two or three more goals because we were really dominant.

"We allowed our opponent to find solutions and confidence and they scored and it was deserved at that part of the game.

"In the last stage of the game we were better. It was more a reaction than massive control. We found a solution and that is a positive for us."

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