Omer Riza heaped praise on his Cardiff City team after their "resilient" display at Middlesbrough and reserved special praise for goalscorer Calum Chambers.

The former Arsenal man has had to slot into the middle of the park amid an ongoing injury crisis at the club and has grown with each passing display.

And the game on Teesside was his best of the lot, netting a fantastic 20-yard effort to level the game, his first goal in 34 months, before putting in a top defensive display to boot.

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"He has played there before, he is comfortable and mature in his game and can deal with the ball under pressure. He also defends well. He's done a great job for us and to top it off with a goal, especially after going 1-0 down is credit to the boys," Riza said of Chambers.

"We have got players who are injured. Aaron Ramsey is injured, (David) Turnbull is injured, Rallsy (Joe Ralls) hast just come back.

"But he has got experience, he has played at the top level and I knew he could do it. He has done a brilliant job in and out of possession. He took (his chance) really well. I'm delighted with him and the team."

It is a valuable point for Cardiff, who, thanks to Hull City's 89th-minute equaliser against Leeds United, remain in 23rd place in the table. But they are now three games unbeaten and have five points from those three outings, they are beginning to look a better side than they were a month or so ago, anyway. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

And Riza was happy with the team's defensive display, but admitted they have to be better in possession if they are to start stringing wins together - which is what they need if they are to get themselves out of trouble.

"Every point is important," he added. "The points you pick up will help you get out of the position you are in. It's a tough place to come - they are an excellent side. We managed to contain them with real resilience.

"If you defend well and don't allow opposition opportunities to score, although they came aggressively, we managed to score as well after going 1-0 down. Rubin could have had a goal at the end - I think that would have been a bit unfair on them if we'd nicked that game. But I'm very happy.

"The boys are showing resilience. If there's anything I can moan about it's that we need to show a bit more quality in possession under pressure and not turn the ball over for them to hurt us again. There were moments where we had to be better in possession, but it's tough, you're under pressure, you're trying to pick up points and the whole situation can be overwhelming at times.

"But they've come through the game, we've picked up five points in the last three against tough opposition and we need to keep taking that forward.

"We just have to keep working. There have been games where we could have picked up three points and we could have been out of this position we are in. We could have been up to 17th, 16th if we'd picked up three against Coventry and against Stoke away from home - it looks totally different. We have to keep fighting and working.

"We need to pick up three points, really, but to come here and get three points is satisfying."

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Cardiff played at the Riverside without Callum Robinson, their top scorer who was sent off against Coventry City on New Year's Day after connecting with Bobby Thomas' face with his elbow.

Riza said the occasion got to James Durkin, the stand-in referee who had never officiated at Championship level before, and the club appealed against the decision.

However, Durkin's decision was upheld, much to Riza's disappointment, and Cardiff will be without their main marksman for the next two games.

"We appealed against it. They didn't overturn it and I was disappointed about that," Riza said. "For me, it wasn't a red card. It's a three-game ban, not four, so he'll be back for the game against the Jacks.

"He has scored eight goals and he is our talisman. But we have to find an answer. We have got boys who will have to go in there and do the job."