By Sam Hill
Brian Barry-Murphy praised his side’s belief and resilience as they fought back from behind to defeat Stevenage 2-1 to maintain their lead at the summit of League One.
This mentality has seen the Bluebirds pick up 16 points from losing positions this season, the most in the division, highlighting their ability to turn games around consistently and not let their heads drop.
Having gone behind in the 57th minute, goals from Callum Robinson and Yousef Salech turned things around against the league’s best defensive team.
“I am really pleased with the players, and the way they played especially when we went behind in the game,” Barry-Murphy said.
“I thought we played really well. It was evident how good they were defensively, and I couldn’t be happier with the performance and the result.”
Alex Revell’s Stevenage side arrived with the league’s best defensive record, averaging just 0.80 goals conceded per match and the Irishman was keen to praise the threat that they posed his team.
“They’re very good at what they do, they’re a hard team to play against,” he explained.
“We knew what they would do and we just couldn’t prevent them going in front. But our response was very positive, we created chances and I am so pleased for Callum and Yousef to have the deciding say in the game.”
Much like the reverse fixture 20 days ago, Robinson found a crucial goal for the Bluebirds and his equaliser was the defining moment in this turnaround.
Barry-Murphy was keen to stress how patient the 30-year-old forward has been, with this being just his fifth start after being the club’s top goal scorer in the Championship last season.
“I haven’t played him as much as he would’ve wanted,” he admitted.
“He’s done great for us on and off the pitch, so grateful and so pleased for him that he had that brilliant moment. He looked particularly dangerous in the penalty box.”
The Irishman also underlined the level of training being set across the whole squad despite a demanding schedule right now across the festive period.
“Some days we can’t get the players off the training pitch because they want to stay out all day,” he joked.
“We played on Friday but trained on Saturday and the level of training was insane”.
This level of intensityperhaps afforded winger Cian Ashford a much-needed rest from this game.
Ashford, a Welsh U21s international had started eight consecutive games in all competitions but was omitted from the squad here as Barry-Murphy explained his decision.
“He’s played the most minutes in the last four weeks alongside Ryan Wintle,” he said.
“I wanted to give him a complete rest and not be tempted to put him on the bench and then end up bringing him on.”
Moving forward, Barry-Murphy insists that Cardiff can continue to get better with returning players from the injury list nearing full fitness.
“By the end of January, we’ll be starting to see the likes of Rubin Colwill and guys like Ollie Tanner up to full speed which will be huge for us,” he added.
Crucially, he believes the Bluebirds habit of responding to setbacks is all a part of their identity right now.
“We train all the time to never give up,” he claimed.
“We have to keep going no matter what the score is, and once that starts to happen in games, it can become a very powerful trait, the players can believe it can happen.”
“It happens by the way we work, just keep going no matter what, and that’s something we at Cardiff want to be associated with as we progress.”