Cardiff City dealing with major blow ahead of huge Portsmouth clash

The Blues host the 19th-placed Bluebirds at Fratton Park in what will be a crunch clash for both teams. But Riza will not be in the away dugout for a match which will have huge repercussions in the battle to avoid the drop.

The 45-year-old is serving the final match of his three-game touchline ban that the FA issued him at the end of January, along with a £3,500 fine. He was charged for misconduct by the Football Association (FA) for misconduct after being dismissed by referee James Bell in the South Wales Derby against Swansea City on January 19.

Riza was warned over his conduct after admitting the charges, which included acting in an improper and/or confrontational manner during an 92nd-minute incident with Swans midfielder Goncalo Franco - as well as after his sending off.

Omer Riza on his touchline ban

‘I wasn't happy with my own actions if I'm being honest, very uncharacteristic of me,’ said Riza to WalesOnline at the time as he awaited the outcome of his appeal.

‘But sometimes you're fuelled by things that happen. There's three or four instances in the game from Franco that I wasn't happy with, aimed at me.’

He added: ‘I'm not going to divulge what happened. I put down what I felt happened to the FA. Hopefully they'll read it and show some compassion. But that's it, I accept whatever decisions are made.’

A touchline ban means that a manager can only speak with his playing team through his assistants, communicating his decisions from up in the stands. They can give a pre-match team talk and be in the dressing room at half-time.

Since being given his suspension, Cardiff have had a mixed back of results. They suffered a 7-0 defeat to table-topping Leeds United at Elland Road on what was their third highest defeat in their history.

At the weekend, they defeated Stoke City on penalties in the FA Cup. They had gone two goals ahead thanks to Rubin Colwill and January signing Youssef Salech but a brace from Lewis Koumas put the Potters on level terms. Lewis Baker put the Staffordshire outfit in front but Colwill equalised before going on to score the winning spot kick after Tatsuki Seko and Michael Rose failed to convert from 12-yards.

Riza could have played for Pompey

Riza will be watching his team from the stands at Fratton Park on Tuesday, but during his playing career he could have called PO4 home. In 1999, Blues boss Alan Ball spoke openly about his chase of Riza and said he had the potential to be the next Andy Cole, who was a Premier League legend.

A deal never materialised, however, with Jason Crowe arriving from Arsenal instead in a deal worth £500,000. Rory Allen followed in what was Pompey's first seven figure signing, while Riza headed to West Ham instead to link up with Harry Redknapp.

Riza never got going in East London, however, with spells at Cambridge United and Denizlispor the best of his career. He later played for Turkish giants Trabzonspor before returning to England to play for Shrewsbury Town and non-league sides Histon, Boreham Wood and Cheshunt.

For the past 12-years he's been involved in coaching, with Cardiff being his first permanent job at a professional level.

Riza was appointed as first-team coach to Erol Bulut last summer and would take on the role as interim boss in September following Bulut's sacking. It was decided in December that he would be manager until the end of the season following wins over Millwall, Plymouth Argyle, Pompey and Norwich City.