Lowe so happy as Riis ends drought

RYAN LOWE feels Emil Riis was back to his physical best as he netted his first goal since October 2022.

Cardiff controlled the opening stages but fell behind to the Dane’s 30th-minute strike.

Riis, 25, spent a year on the sidelines after suffering an ACL injury.

“We’ve all been waiting for Emil to come back,” said Preston manager Lowe.

“He looked strong physically, I’m pleased with his goal, for him and his team-mates, they’re all pleased for him.

“The build-up to it was fantastic and the way he took it, so I’m really pleased for him. It’s huge to have him back.

“We’re just trying to mould him into a perfect striker. But we do need to be careful with him.

“We can’t just slog him all the way through, we’ll manage his workload.”

Cardiff – now without a home win in five games – were restricted to longrange efforts through Kion Etete and Karlan Grant.

And Riis made them pay with his side’s first effort on target before Ben Whiteman scored shortly before half-time. Nat Phillips, Famara Diedhiou, Josh Wilson-esbrand and David Turnbull all made their home debuts for Cardiff while Aaron Ramsey made his first appearance since mid-september.

Boss Erol Bulut said: “We need patience, all of us. We’ve got five new players.

“We try to get them adapted to the team quickly. I thought Nat was quite good, Wilson came in, but they have to know their team-mates much better.

“We have to continue to show them what they need to do. I hope the next few games will be much better.”

CARDIFF: Alnwick 6; Ng 7, Goutas 6, Phillips 6 (Meite (84) 6), Collins 6; Siopis 6, Wintle 6 (Ramsey (46) 6); Bowler 6 (Wilson-esbrand (46) 6), Turnbull 6 (Colwill (71) 6), Grant 6; Etete 5 (Diedhiou (62) 6) PRESTON: Woodman 7; Storey 7, Lindsay 7, Hughes 7; Potts 7 (Mccann 72) 6), Whiteman 8, Browne 7 (Ledson (80) 6), Millar 7 (Brady (86) 6), Frokjaerjensen 8 (Woodburn (87) 6); Riis 7 (Osmajic (86) 6), Keane 7 STAR MAN: Mads Frokjaer-jensen – Quality play and two assists for PNE.

Dean Whitestone 7