Cardiff City 1-1 Bristol City: Salech strikes late to salvage point but Bluebirds still in relegation mix

Yousef Salech's third goal of the season rescued a late point for Cardiff City in the 104th Severnside Derby with Bristol City at the Cardiff City Stadium.

After edging what was a drab first half of football, Cardiff were pinned back by skipper Jason Knight's strike, which looked to be a decisive contribution on what threatened to be another deeply frustrating day for the Bluebirds.

However, Salech popped up in the last minute to slot home and salvage a share of the spoils for Cardiff, who remain firmly in the relegation mix.

Having gone the whole of January unbeaten, Cardiff are yet to win a league game this month, and have won just two of their last seven Championship outings.

Indeed, regardless of any feelgood factor that the 23-year-old's late strike may have generated here, the importance of next week's trip to Plymouth Argyle has now surged for boss Omer Riza, whose side were in real danger of letting this contest slip away.

That said, the Cardiff boss was probably reasonably pleased by the way his side started this clash, against a Bristol City side still knocking on the door of the top six.

Will Alves, making his full debut as part of four changes from the defeat at Fratton Park in midweek, offered another promising glimpse of his abilities, linking up nicely with Callum O'Dowda inside the first minute, with the Irishman eventually drilling his effort straight into the arms of visiting goalkeeper Max O'Leary.

Callum Robinson, who had previously scored more goals against today's opponents than any other Championship side, saw two early efforts of his own blocked on the edge of the area, during a promising opening 10 minutes for the hosts.

But while the early signs perhaps pointed to a frantic, fast-paced derby day