Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Monday, December 30.

Robinson: I celebrated with Riza to show we're all with him

Callum Robinson has explained the reasoning behind his notable celebration with Omer Riza after netting the opener against Watford at Vicarage Road.

After less than a minute, Robinson tucked home the first of his two goals of the afternoon before he made a beeline to the manager and hugged him on the touchline. Riza was under increasing pressure having gone nine matches without a win and the Bluebirds boss admitted he was "taken aback" by the celebration.

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And Robinson said the players must shoulder some of the responsibility for the poor performances of late and celebrating with the boss was his way of showing all the players were with him.

"Every day I see him and he works so hard. Sometimes as players we need to take the responsibility as well. He hasn't got the results recently that he would have wanted, but I know he works so hard," Robinson said.

"I knew this game was massive for him anyway, him coming back here, he spent a lot of years here. When I scored I thought it was a big opportunity to tell him we are with him. It's not all on the manager, that's what I was saying."

There was hushed talk before the game that the performance and result at Watford might go some way to deciding Riza's fate. Asked about that, Robinson said: "That's football. He could have (been sacked). I don't know what happens above, but he could have. It's a massive game for him, I don't know the ins and outs, but I knew it was a big one.

"And for us as players, as well, I know we've all got contracts, but we knew we needed to fix up and produce a performance like that. Now that's the level." Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

Two more injury doubts emerge

Two more injury doubts have emerged ahead of the New Year's Day clash with Coventry City.

Cardiff's rehabilitation room is stocked full at the moment. Joe Ralls, Perry Ng, Aaron Ramsey, David Turnbull, Isaak Davies, Kion Etete, Michael Reindorf and Ryotaro Tsunoda are all unfit, while Jamilu Collins appears to have been frozen out of contention.

Now Omer Riza has two more to contend with, with Callum O'Dowda and Chris Willock both leaving the pitch at Vicarage Road with injuries and they now face a race to be fit for the Coventry fixture.

On O'Dowda, Riza said: "He's another player we have to look at tomorrow. We will have to assess it and see where he is at. Hopefully it's not too bad and we can get him ready for the Coventry game. But we are light on our feet."

On Willock, he added: "Chris Willock has come off with a groin (injury) again now, it's tightened up on him.

"I think it's just the timeframe he's got to heal. We will have to assess it. I don't want to make excuses because every time you ask me a question, a player is not feeling good or we've got injuries, it can be misconstrued as an excuse - it's not an excuse.

"Everyone is in the same boat. We need results and we will try to do that."

The injury pile-up means January is now a huge month for the Bluebirds. Riza said of the window: "We've got 10 injuries. It's not two or three, it's 10. I think in January we will need a little bit of help."

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Captain issues statement

Injured captain Joe Ralls hailed the win at Watford as the "perfect response" to the dire Boxing Day display at Oxford United.

Cardiff were thoroughly outplayed at the Kassam Stadium, with the 3-2 scoreline flattering them in the end. But credit to them, they bounced back when the players and manager were under immense pressure and earned an important 2-1 win at Watford.

Ralls has not played in the last three matches and looks a doubt for the New Year's Day clash, too, but is still very much the heartbeat of this squad.

He wrote on social media: "The perfect response to Boxing Day. Brilliant fight and performance today, well done lads. Thanks for all your support in 2024 Bluebirds, so glad we gave you that win today after some tough games!

"Through everything we always stick together. Happy New Year to you all."