Neil Warnock has ruled out signing another striker as he spoke of his pride in Cardiff City’s first match since the disappearance of Emiliano Sala.
The Bluebirds manager says he will look, instead, to recruit defenders for the club before the transfer window closes on Thursday night.
The 2-1 defeat at Arsenal on Tuesday was a sombre occasion as it marked a return to football for the club following the disappearance of the aeroplane carrying striker Sala and pilot David Ibbotson eight days before.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second-half penalty and Alexandre Lacazette’s solo strike saw Arsenal prevail to move level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea, with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s stoppage-time effort proving mere consolation.
“We spoke about it before the kick-off: for Emiliano we ought to try to put a performance in,” Warnock said.
“I can’t explain how it’s been this week. You’ve not really wanted to get out of bed, because you know what’s coming.
“Everything was really miserable. Nobody could actually do anything about it.
“In the circumstances, we’ve only worked on it for 24 hours, the system and everything.
“They couldn’t have given me any more tonight. I’m proud to be their manager tonight.”
Tributes at the Emirates Stadium included daffodils, Sala’s name in the Cardiff squad list on the matchday programme and the Bluebirds’ mascot wearing a shirt sporting the striker’s name, plus numerous supporters’ banners.
The biggest read: “We never saw you play and never saw you score, but Emiliano our beautiful Bluebird we will love you forever more.”
Warnock added: “The fans showing what they’ve shown down at the stadium was pretty amazing and the Nantes fans have been fabulous.
“I know we’ve lost a game of football, but there are other more important things.”
Warnock revealed his recruitment plan now was to try to add defensive reinforcements prior to the closure of the window.
He added: “I don’t think we’ll be doing anything striker-wise – we took two months on Emiliano.
“I can’t see anybody at the moment that we can get, with all the rules and regulations, that’s better than what we’ve got.
“We’re still trying to bring in one or two defensive players.”
The defeats leaves Cardiff still in the Premier League relegation, with the gap to safety above them now up to three points.
The Bluebirds boss said: “I don’t think we were expecting any points as such, but I’m disappointed we didn’t get three, let alone one.
“I couldn’t see how they were going to score, other than a stupid tackle in the penalty box. Having warned at half-time not to do things like that, be careful, because they’ll go down, to give a goal away like that was diabolical from my point of view.”
Arsenal boss Unai Emery said: “Last week I was thinking maybe we cannot play, but the situation is continuing.
“Continuing finding Emiliano Sala, continuing the competition and it is a very emotional match today.”
