Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Monday, December 23.

Coach appointment imminent

Omer Riza has confirmed that he is looking to add to his coaching staff in the new year.

The Bluebirds head coach has had to make do with a makeshift staff as things stand, with under-21s boss Darren Purse stepping up and Gavin Ward being parachuted in as an interim goalkeeper coach.

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After Riza's appointment as manager until the end of the season, he said he had not had time to discuss adding to the backroom staff. But given three coaches left when Erol Bulut was sacked and only two were drafted in, there is a deficit in the dugout.

But in an update following the Sheffield United defeat, Riza said: "There is some movement with that at the moment as well. Things will come apparent the further we move down the line towards January."

Riza confirmed it will be adding to, rather than replacing, the people currently on his coaching ticket.

Kpakio praised after debut

Omer Riza praised right-back Ronan Kpakio after he made his Championship debut at the weekend.

A youthful and inexperienced bench was named for the defeat by Sheffield United, with Kpakio, who impressed in pre-season under Erol Bulut, among the replacements.

And makeshift right-back Andy Rinomhota was forced to move into his more natural midfield position late on in the tie, meaning Riza decided to hand Kpakio, 17, his first outing in the league.

Speaking after the match, the Bluebirds boss said: "We know Ronan is a good young prospect. He is doing very well.

"We have a lot of injuries and no cover at right back. Perry Ng is injured and we are playing a midfielder in that position at the minute, because he's got energy and he can do it well.

"If anything happens and we had to change something up - we had no midfielders on the bench - so we had to move Andy into midfield. We needed an option there, you can put Calum Chambers out there or Will Fish, potentially, but they are not comfortable out there.

"So why not give the young lad, who plays at right back, the opportunity to play? He did that and he did OK when he came on. I'm happy for him."

Riza admits 'nervousness' of playing at home

Cardiff City manager Omer Riza has acknowledged the growing pressure at home games, following a 2-0 defeat to Sheffield United that plunged the Bluebirds into the Championship relegation zone.

The loss to the Blades marked Cardiff's seventh home league defeat this season, the highest in the division, and their goal difference of -5 at Cardiff City Stadium is currently the poorest among all second-tier teams.

"We're in a fight at the minute, and we need to get out of it," Riza said. "Every mistake counts and that can lead to frustration, mistakes and nervousness. At home at the minute, I think there's an element of pressure there. The fans, maybe at the minute, the situation they're not happy with.

"They've got their opinions and they'll air their opinions and vent their frustrations. We can't do anything about it. All we can do is manage what we're managing.

"I can't control how the fans are. We want them to be happy and we want to perform so they're happy."