CARDIFF City boss Omer Riza felt his side were good value for a point at Middlesbrough.

The Bluebirds had less than 25% of possession at the Riverside but Riza said that always the plan, with the visiting boss well aware of the fact his side needed to "make it hard" for Boro or risk being blown away.

Ex-Boro loanee Calum Chambers earned a point for relegation threatened Cardiff when he cancelled out Emmanuel Latte Lath's early opener.

And although Boro dominated the ball from that point onwards, they struggled to create clear cut openings and City comfortably held on.

A delighted Riza said: "I'm very pleased with the point, Middlesbrough are a very good team.

"When you come to places like this you have to make it hard for the opposition or they will dominate you and score three, four or five goals which they've done all season. But they've conceded at times as well which has left them without three points.

"We had to do that job today and to a man my team worked excellently and I think we deserved the point at the end just purely on our continued work-rate and work ethic."

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It was put to Riza that Boro have made a habit of dropping points in games they felt they should have won this season.

He said: "It can happen, no game is easy in this league. People often say the same thing to us when we don't perform sometimes against some of the teams around us. Everyone is fighting for points, everyone needs points so no game is easy and it can happen."

The goal that secured Cardiff a point was a first for Chambers' in 34 months, with the former Arsenal man playing in an unfamiliar midfield role.

Riza said: "We have other players who are injured Aaron Ramsey, David Turnbull, Joe Ralls has been out although he came on in the second-half.

"Calum has experience, he's played at the top level, and I knew he could do it and he has done a brilliant job out of position.

"It was worth the wait [for the goal]. He took it very well, I'm just delighted for him, delighted for the team and just very happy to come away with a point."

What added to Riza's satisfaction was the fact Cardiff got a positive result despite being without key man Callum Robinson, who was suspended after being sent off against Coventry in midweek.

He said: "We appealed against it, they didn't overturn it which I was disappointed about because for me I still say it wasn't a red card.

"It's a blow for us of course, he's scored eight goals, so he's our talisman, he gets the goals but we have to find an answer and today we have still created a little bit and we have boys that have to go in there and do the job."