By Gareth James
Cardiff City manager Mark Hudson has heaped praise on young striker Kion Etete after his role in the Bluebirds’ 2-2 draw at Stoke City.
The 21-year-old – who moved to Cardiff from Tottenham via a loan spell at Cheltenham, for £500,000 – came on as a second-half substitute when Hudson’ side were 2-1 down.
Within two minutes, Callum Robson had scored the equaliser for Cardiff who resumed their Championship campaign by avoiding a third successive defeat.
Mark Harris came on at the same time as Etete and Hudson said: “We fought ourselves back into the game with the subs, again praise for them, sat in the really cold stand, ready to come on.
“They were raring to go and we ask that of everyone. There are things we should definitely do better in the game, but to sit and wait for your turn and then for Sparky [Harris] to look really sharp down the right and make a couple of opportunities, him and Mahlon (Romeo) linked up quite well.
“Kion’s willingness to hold the ball up against (Harry) Souttar, who has a big frame and is physically strong, he did that really well. He is coming on leaps and bounds.
“He is putting himself in and around it, which is absolutely what we need and we need everyone in the squad to be showing that.
“He is coming in every day and asking what we can do more. ‘Can we do this? Can we do that?’
“Obviously, that is what you want from a young player. He is learning. It’s not always going to go that way, that’s the way football is, but his willingness to work is brilliant.”
The visiting Bluebirds notched an early opener when Ryan Wintle slotted home inside six minutes.
Tyrese Campbell’s leveller moments later sparked the Potters into life and instigated a quickfire comeback.
Manchester City loanee Liam Delap completed the turnaround with less than 18 minutes on the clock in an action-packed start.
But Cardiff’s persistence in their pursuit of a second-half equaliser was rewarded with Robinson ensuring both sides had to settle for a point.
“Overall, I think a draw is a fair result,” added Hudson.
“In the first half, we scored a goal and maybe we put our foot off, our concentration slipped and it took us quite a while to reorganise.
A second #CardiffCity goal for @ryanwintle123! 💙
📺 Watch highlights from yesterday’s match on @CardiffCityTV 👇#CityAsOne
— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) December 11, 2022
“It was a bit frantic. We got in at half-time, spoke honestly about a few things, and then made some changes and the subs came on with a huge impetus and swung it in our way.
“We had some decent chances at the end, like Kion’s header, and we maybe could have took three points. But I think that would have been harsh.”
Stoke were denied two penalty appeals when Delap appeared to be fouled and Hudson added: “I think we got away with one penalty if I’m honest, but we’ve had stuff go against us this season and sometimes it evens itself out.
“They probably feel really aggrieved with that and we may have got away with it.
Stoke manager Alex Neil said: “I thought we had an absolute stonewall penalty.
“I was really frustrated. I’ve seen it back and it’s not a debate for me, and those decisions decide games for us.
“That’s a key decision in the match and they got it wrong. Arguably 2-2 was a fair result, but we 100 per cent deserved that penalty.
“If we get that there’s an opportunity to go 3-1 up and then the likelihood is the game is taken away from them.
Nice to be out on the pitch again after the break. Good point on the board and another goal ⚽️
We keep building 💙#CardiffCity pic.twitter.com/RuqaI5n0zN— Callum Robinson (@CallumRobinson7) December 10, 2022
“I don’t think we started well, but the pleasing thing is we’ve really struggled to come from a goal down in the past and we responded well today.
“Their goal kicked us into life, and I thought the match was really open for the whole game. There wasn’t much in it at the start of the second half, but they took control when they made the changes.
“I thought the game was too open and we were naïve in some of our decision-making. There were positives; we had enough character and resilience to come back and get ourselves in front, which we haven’t done very often, so that was pleasing.
“But we want to win, particularly if you’re leading, you don’t want to draw or lose from there.”
