Brian Barry-Murphy described Cardiff City’s shock 1-0 home defeat to bottom club Burton Albion as “pretty sickening” after they missed the chance to return to the top of League One.
The Bluebirds dominated for long spells at Cardiff City Stadium but failed to make their pressure count before Charlie Webster struck in the 82nd minute to lift the Brewers off the foot of the table.
“I think when you lose a game of that nature it is pretty sickening from a player and coach’s point of view,” Barry-Murphy admitted.
“Naturally, we are all disappointed. We feel like we created enough chances to win any game, really.
“When you don’t score the goals you feel you should there is always an opportunity for them to score late in the game and they did.
“We created more chances than in any other game this season, but it doesn’t really mean anything when you lose, we need to learn how to turn that dominance into wins.”
Cardiff had gone into the clash knowing victory would take them back to the summit, but their inability to break down a resilient Burton rearguard left them nursing a second consecutive home defeat.
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Yousef Salech and Joel Bagan both went close, while visiting goalkeeper Brad Collins made several crucial saves to frustrate the home crowd.
The longer the game went on, the more restless the atmosphere became, and when Webster pounced on a loose ball in the box to fire past Nathan Trott, Cardiff were left stunned.
Barry-Murphy conceded his players must adapt quickly to opponents willing to sit deep and counter.
“We’re all disappointed naturally,” he said.
“We felt like we created enough chances to win any game. When you play a team who defend so deep with so many numbers, there’s always a chance they could score late, and they did.
“We created the most chances today than in any other game this season, but it doesn’t really mean anything if you don’t win.
“We need to turn that dominance into wins and that’s the objective for the rest of the season.
“I think the players have made extraordinary progress. They’re an extremely talented group of players.
“There are going to be a lot of ups and downs as the season progresses. And it is our job to make the players aware of what it looks like to encounter these.
“As long as we have the mentality to be obsessed with that, then we will be fine.”
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For Burton, the victory marked a significant response to their 4-0 hammering at home to Plymouth just days earlier.
It also eased some pressure on manager Gary Bowyer, whose side began the evening propping up the table and struggling for goals.
Bowyer praised his team’s character and organisation after keeping only their second clean sheet of the campaign.
“The credit all goes to the players because Saturday wasn’t the standard, it wasn’t what we’re about and we knew we were coming to a very, very difficult place,” said Bowyer.
The result lifted Burton to 22nd, one point from safety, while Cardiff remain fourth, reflecting on a bruising lesson in converting possession into points.
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