Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Friday, February 7.

Simic has to beat competition to play

Roko Simic has to leapfrog some stiff competition is he is to get some minutes for the first team, says Omer Riza.

The Bluebirds take on Stoke City in the FA Cup tomorrow and it might represent the perfect opportunity to throw Simic into the action for his debut.

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The Croatian youth international scored on his under-21s debut against Everton last Saturday, coolly finishing after latching on to a lovely Aaron Ramsey pass, in a timely boost following his disappointing loan stint with KV Kortrijk. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

He has now recovered from injury and training often with the first team. And, given he was omitted from the under-21s team this afternoon, he might be involved for his senior debut in the Potteries tomorrow. He does, however, have to get past Callum Robinson and Yousef Salech in the striker pecking order in the weeks and months to come.

“He’s training with us every day," Riza said of Simic. "If we have everyone back, he might train with the under-21s, but I like to see him up training with us every day so I can cast an eye over him, because he isn't getting minutes with us with the first team. He is playing some minutes for the under-21s.

"He scored the other day. We’ve got a good group, a strong group and there's a lot of players he has to get through to get the opportunity. So he's got to keep working hard and show good attitude and character. But he is training.”

Riza: I held talks with Fish over January exit

Riza has admitted he had question marks over whether to allow Will Fish to head out on loan in January, but is content with the decision to keep him at the club and wants him to fight for his place.

Fish has played just seven games since arriving from Manchester United, starting only three, but looks nailed on to get the nod at the heart of defence against Stoke tomorrow.

The 21-year-old left United to start his career in earnest and earn some real game time, which hasn't happened for him yet with the Bluebirds. But Riza is happy to see him fighting for his place and has said that an impressive performance in the Potteries could see him keep the shirt for upcoming league matches.

"He is brilliant," Riza said of Fish. "He has a great character and attitude, some of the players we are bringing in all have that. We don't want the players to be happy they're not playing, but we want them to have the intelligence to know where they are at and where the team is at.

"But also still understand that if they do well enough they will get the opportunity. Will has trained well all season, with the limited amount of time on the pitch he's managed to get. He played in the last cup game and played well. We have another cup game coming up at the weekend and if he performs there is every opportunity he keeps the shirt.

"He is a great lad. I had question marks about whether I was going to send him out on loan, purely because of the way he is. His character is so good, he works hard and wants to do well, but there are frustrations there and I see it.

"But for us it wasn't the right thing and for him, he wants to show us that he wants to get into the team. It was the right decision that he stayed and he's one of the first choices to come into the team if something happens to anyone. He's really close."

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Perry Ng closing in on international dream

Perry Ng has taken another step closer to achieving his dream of playing international football for Singapore.

Ng is in the process of applying for Singapore citizenship via the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme (FST), which would finally enable him to represent the country of birth of his grandfather, James.

The scheme enables athletes who were not born in Singapore, but have ancestral links to the country, to represent the national team. If successful, Ng will become the first footballer to attain Singapore citizenship under the FST since 2010.

The Bluebirds right-back took part in a "familiarisation" trip last September, linking up with the national team and training with them while being ineligible to play in matches. However, Football Association of Singapore general secretary Chew Chun-Liang appears confident they can get the documentation to enable Ng to finally gain international honours.

“The first step is to make sure that he gets his PR (permanent residency) first before he gets his citizenship and can represent Singapore,” said Chew.

“Every opportunity that we have to have Perry back in Singapore, we will bring him back. And every opportunity he says that he can come back to Singapore, he will.”

Stoke face striker crisis

Stoke City manager Mark Robins is facing a selection headache in attack ahead of the FA Cup fourth-round clash with Cardiff.

Robins, who clinched the cup as a player with Manchester United in 1990, had a remarkable journey to Wembley last season when his Coventry City team were defeated on penalties in the semi-final by his former club.

But with regards to his striker selection crisis, Ipswich Town loanee Ali Al-Hamadi, who scored on his debut last week, is cup-tied - as is joint EFL top scorer Nathan Lowe.

With Tom Cannon, Stoke's top scorer with nine goals, having been sold to Sheffield United by Leicester City after being recalled from his loan with the Potters, both Million Manhoef and Sam Gallagher sidelined due to injuries, and Niall Ennis loaned out to Blackpool, Stoke did manage to secure one forward this week.

Adriel Walker, West Bromwich Albion's young striker, signed an 18-month contract. However, the 19-year-old was brought in for the Potters' under-21s and may not yet be deemed ready for first-team action.

Stoke have welcomed back Ryan Mmaee from his loan spell at Rapid Vienna. However, due to a series of injuries that kept him off the pitch in Austria, he's not expected to play until next month owing to a hamstring issue.

Robins does have alternatives such as young Emre Tezgel, who was subbed on during the third-round victory over Sunderland, Lewis Koumas on loan, who hasn't found the back of the net since early December, and Andre Vidigal. Vidigal made a sensational start at Stoke last season with five goals in his first six appearances, but he has yet to start a league match this term.