Tonight's Cardiff City news as Bluebirds playing 'Premier League' football and defender to 'feel the heat'

Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Wednesday, November 6.

Blake: Cardiff playing Premier League-type football

Former Cardiff striker Nathan Blake has thrown his support behind interim Bluebirds manager Omer Riza, suggesting he should be appointed permanently due to the impressive style of play under his leadership. Blake praised Riza's approach as the best Cardiff has seen in a decade, including during the successful Neil Warnock era.

Speaking to the BBC, Blake said: "The managerial changes there's been at Cardiff for the last over 10 years has been ridiculous, but the style of football I've seen, personally, probably is the best I've seen in the last 10 years. I would include the Neil Warnock era in that, even though Neil got promotion.

"I think the style of football is more updated and more in tune with what you see in Premier League football. If that is your goal, and you're trying to get there, then you need to at least adopt a style that if you get there, it's going to keep you there."

With Cardiff having lost only one of seven games under Riza, Blake believes the new manager has significantly boosted team morale.

"They're playing a different brand of football than they were under Erol Bulut," Blake added. "A lot of players are in good form, rather than the flip side, [a lot of players] who were struggling. So I put it down to confidence. Results breed confidence."

McGuinness to 'feel the heat' tonight

Luton manager Rob Edwards believes Mark McGuinness will face an added pressure when he confronts his old club Cardiff City at Kenilworth Road tonight.

The 23-year-old, who joined Cardiff from Arsenal in June 2021, enjoyed a fruitful spell at the Welsh club with 86 appearances over a three-year period, and capped it off with a new long-term deal a few months back.

However, Luton managed to clinch a deal this summer with Cardiff, reportedly breaking the club's transfer record by paying an initial fee of about £6m for the former Republic of Ireland U21 star - a sum which could rise to as much as £10m.

Speaking about McGuinness ahead of facing the Bluebirds this evening, Edwards said: "I’m sure Macca will be feeling that. We won’t put anything extra on it for him, but he’ll be feeling it. It’s just a big game for us anyway. We want to try and perform well and if we do that it gives us the best chance of trying to win the game.

"I’ll be delighted for Macca if that is the case as I’m sure for him he’ll be feeling a little bit of extra heat.

"He’ll know the individuals well and he probably hasn’t this week but I’m sure he has mates in the camp and he’s probably spoken to them the last few weeks. He’s here, he’s ours and his full focus is on what his job has to be, but he’ll certainly know the players better than most."

Horvath to receive 'hero's welcome' upon return

Ethan Horvath should receive a 'hero's welcome' from Luton Town fans when he returns to Kenilworth Road tonight, says Edwards.

The 29-year-old played 51 times for the Hatters in the 2022-23 season after being loaned from Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2022.

His time in Bedfordshire was a success, with Luton winning promotion to the Premier League thanks to a play-off final penalty shoot-out victory over Coventry City at Wembley. However, an anticipated move to Kenilworth Road didn't materialise the following summer as Town boss Edwards chose to bring in Thomas Kaminski and Tim Krul instead for the top flight campaign, leading Horvath to return to his parent club.

He then found himself sidelined after not being included in the Reds' 25-man Premier League squad and was unable to secure a move away from the City Ground before the transfer window closed. The American did represent his country once, starting a 4-0 friendly win over Oman, before finally negotiating his exit in February of this year, moving to Wales for an undisclosed fee and signing a three-and-a-half year deal.

Horvath made 16 appearances for the Bluebirds during the final stages of the season, but after starting the first four games this term, during the Bluebirds' major struggles under Erol Bulut, he was replaced by Jak Alnwick.

Despite this meaning Horvath may not feature on the pitch tonight, Edwards expressed his respect, saying: "He played a huge role for us in our promotion and everyone should give him a real hero’s welcome when they see him. He was a huge figure for us in what was an amazing year for the football club, so it'll be nice to see him."

U21s targeting Everton fixture

The young Bluebirds are set to face a tough challenge as they travel to Everton in the Premier League Cup on Friday.

The match, which kicks off at 7pm at The Walton Hall Park Football Pitch, will see City's U21s put their skills to the test against a strong Category One side.

Matthew Bloxham, ahead of the fixture, said: "We've had a really bright start in the Premier League Cup and Everton, being a Category One opposition, are going to pose a real tough challenge. They're a team we're looking forward to playing and they're outside of our usual catchment of games. The boys really want to go and showcase what we've been doing in the league against a good team. "

He added: "The last few weeks, we've had a platform of performance, which has allowed us to pick up victories. We've got to make sure that we continue to develop what we've been working on, not deviate on that and keep a high-energy game."

Midfielder Cody Twose also expressed his confidence in the team, saying: "We all back ourselves, we know we've been doing well in the league and we've been consistent with our results and performances. It will be a tough test for us, but the last few weeks have been really good and we're getting better with each week. We've had some different challenges and we'll have another one on Friday."