Brian Barry-Murphy spoke to the press after City came from behind to earn a point against Stoke City with a Joel Colwill header.
“I'm disappointed we didn't get the victory.” Brian began. “We had a very clear plan of how we were trying to achieve that, and achieved so many of the situations that we wanted. The goal we conceded is naturally disappointing and felt pretty easy from our point of view, so we can improve that a lot, but the players kept going right to the end and tried to score.
“I thought the players played really well. We planned a lot of things in regards to Stoke with a really clear idea of how they played, and the areas we wanted to get in, we got in pretty regularly. We obviously didn't plan on giving away a goal of the nature we did, so we have to tie up on that kind of stuff and be really stingy, because obviously we've had to come back in all the games at the moment, and that's a challenge in itself.
"The way the players responded was incredible, really, and in the second half it felt as if it was only a matter of time. I was pretty sure we would get the winner, but we just couldn't find a finish against a brilliant goalkeeper. He's always been a top goalkeeper at this level. I knew we'd have to finish well to beat him - in Joel’s case we did, but on the other occasions it wasn't possible.
“We have to remain calm.” Brian continued. “We have incredible support, and that support's very powerful. We have to play our part in making sure they get a lot to support. Players have to be really professional and calm, stay focused and not get carried away by too many perceived highs or too many perceived lows. The players are in a great place; really focused, really together and the dressing room is a very tight place where there's a great sense of unity. That's the most important thing for me."
Joel Colwill made his first start for City in the Championship, and netted a well-executed second half header to level the score.
"It was great finish and very important for us that he carries a big goal threat. You saw he got close to another goal and his movement in the box, in the second half particularly, was was very good. We planned on him playing very close to Yousef [Salech] with Jack Moylan and we felt as if we could get a lot of joy against Stoke in that position. Joel played a little bit too deep in the first half, but in the second half he was very close to Yousef and had a lot of our best moments in the box. He was kind of on the premises, which is a big part of his role for the team.”
The Bluebirds were on top for most of the second half, but couldn’t quite find the winner they richly deserved.
"We're clearly getting into good positions. I think we got very close to being ruthless, you know, we hit the crossbar and post multiple times. If they go in, it's a clinical performance and we've scored the goals. So the players understand the way of playing. We've built our idea, our identity over longer than 12 months now. So we keep getting in the positions, we train a lot on finishing actions and the goals will be inevitable.
"Yousef looked really dangerous, I felt tonight. I'm really happy with his movement. We felt as if he was a little bit too far away from goal in certain instances on Saturday against Portsmouth, but tonight he looked really dangerous. You can see the level of crosses that were going through the box were really good, and once he sees that, his eyes light up. As long as he keeps getting in positions close enough to goal, then the goals will come.”