Omer Riza was left disappointed at Cardiff City's "mistakes" and "lack of urgency" during the 3-2 defeat by Oxford United and admits next month is an important one with the club sitting in 23rd place in the table.

Cardiff are currently on a dire run of results, winless in nine and having dropped like a stone down the Championship table in the last couple of months, with only Plymouth Argyle propping up the table below them.

The defeat at the Kassam Stadium worsens the situation for Omer Riza, who has not won a game since he was appointed permanent manager of the club at the beginning of this month. The pressure is now piling on him, with the latest outing at Oxford doing little to quieten the growing frustration among supporters.

READ MORE: Poor Cardiff City player ratings as creative players anonymous and glut of mistakes prove costly

READ MORE: Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively's stunning $500,000 gesture amid Wrexham owner's personal issues

"We can't afford to make the mistakes that we made, or not show the urgency that you need to show to shut players down and stop things from progressing." Riza said after the match. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

"We made key mistakes in key areas. The first goal: losing the ball, not tracking runners. It was disappointing to give a goal away like that when there was nothing really in the game before that, and we had controlled certain parts.

"The second goal from a corner, disappointing, and you're 3-0 down before you know it. It's always then difficult to get back into a game.

"As a manager, you have to assess everything as it happens, bring players on that can change things. Towards the end, you can say that we scored two goals from the changes and the players, but it was all too late."

Watford are the next opponents, on Sunday, with Cardiff desperate to break this dire run without a win. The Bluebirds are now deep in this relegation battle and, with half a season to go, time will quickly start to run out for them if they don't regain their form.

"There are 60 points to play for - still a long way to go in the season," he added. "We need to move onto the next game now, which is Watford. Of course, it's disappointing, because we came here wanting to win, but now we're looking forward to the Watford game.

"We need to win. We have to go out there and do all those little things properly, all the little moments. Show urgency to defend properly, not get broken down, to be resilient. To get on first and second balls, to get the ball down and play with quality rather than turn the ball over, and punish when we get the opportunity.

"We need to try and apply this in the very little space of time that we have. We'll work on a couple of things and talk about them, like we've done after the game today, to try and execute things better.

"A win can change everything. We'll go back to the drawing board, back to the training ground, and get ourselves ready."

WHATSAPP: Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community

The January transfer window now beckons. It's no understatement to say that next month is huge with regards to getting Cardiff out of this serious trouble at the wrong end of the table. And Riza even admitted that with the club in such a lowly position, it might put some potential signings off.

"I think it's an important window," he said. "Everyone is doing their due diligence in respect of players potentially coming in. When the window opens we will see movement take place.

"We have had a meeting and a shortlist is already with the board. Discussions are taking place and hopefully we can move forward with transfers.

"There is a whole range of scenarios that occurs with our position. Maybe some players don't want to come to a club in a position we are in at the minute. Maybe we might only be able to get loans in, maybe the list we are looking at might not happen. There is a list of obstacles in the way, but we are making sure we have got back-up and players we are looking at further down the list that could potentially happen as well.

"We have done everything we need to do."