Malky Mackay has backed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to be a success at Cardiff City and believes that the Welsh club will avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.

Mackay was sacked as the Bluesbirds boss last month and was replaced by the Norwegian.

"It's a great job for him to get, coming from Norwegian football into the Premier League and into a club with that kind of structure," the 41-year-old told the BBC's Match of the Day programme. "There are 30,000 people going to their games every week willing them on. He has done really well in Norway, but the Premier League will be massively different and a bit of a culture shock to begin with."

"I loved my time at the club and being around the place. I loved my time living in Wales," added Mackay. "I look back on it really fondly.

"We got to the playoff final and we achieved promotion. I think there's a squad there that's absolutely competitive and can stay up. They're a great group of players with terrific fans behind them."

Cardiff are currently third from bottom in the league table with 18 points from 21 matches.