Cardiff City manager Brian Barry-Murphy hailed a "special day" for his side after their extraordinary 5-4 comeback victory over Burnley, revealing several players had put their bodies on the line to secure one of the most remarkable wins in the club's recent history.
The Bluebirds looked dead and buried when they trailed 4-1 after 62 minutes at Cardiff City Stadium, only for a sensational late fightback to turn the game on its head. Yousef Salech struck twice off the bench, Jack Moylan converted a penalty and Alex Robertson smashed home a stunning stoppage-time winner, redeeming himself after his earlier own goal had seemingly condemned Cardiff to defeat.
Players played through pain
The victory was made all the more extraordinary by the revelation that several of Barry-Murphy's players were not fully fit, with the Bluebirds boss admitting Perry Ng was effectively playing on one leg during the first half.
"I think it's a very memorable day because of the scoreline, obviously," Barry-Murphy said. "The players put everything into the game and even at 4-1 down, we felt as if we could be dangerous if we could get the next goal."
"Obviously, we understood the consequences if we didn't, but it ended up being a very special day for us."
The Cardiff boss was particularly moved by the lengths his players had gone to in order to make themselves available for the final game before the November international break.
"The issue for us today was that we had a lot of players who, under normal circumstances, wouldn't have played," he explained. "Perry was playing on one leg in the first half. He felt a lot better in the second half. Krystian Bielik wasn't fit and really put himself in a position where he demanded to play because he knew the situation we were faced with."
"Will Fish was the same. Alex Robertson has some issues. So when you see players wanting to play for the team so much, it's almost a throwback to days gone by, when players wanted to play for their club."
Commitment in a modern era
Barry-Murphy insisted he would never take such commitment for granted, particularly given the increasingly scientific approach to managing players' fitness in modern football.
"In an era now where there's so much informed opinion from sports science and different things, it's very easy for players to think, 'I don't really feel 100 per cent.' But they want to play for the supporters in the stadium and give everything."
"Hopefully, we can improve those players' condition over the international break and make sure that when we come back, they're in a healthier condition and the players who were injured will be closer to returning."
Osho faces another month out
However, there was a fresh injury blow concerning Gabriel Osho, who has undergone minor surgery on his knee and now faces another month on the sidelines. The centre-back had been due to return against Burnley after serving his three-match suspension, but Barry-Murphy confirmed on Friday that he had sustained a knee problem.
"Gabriel has had minor knee surgery on the meniscus, so he's out for four weeks," he confirmed. "Yesterday, I didn't even realise he was back [from suspension]. Everyone said to me yesterday, 'Oh, he's back for this game.' I said, 'Yeah, but he's injured.' So that was another player that's been missing, but he's making a good recovery."
"That probably increased the need for Krystian to play. But he did a great job."
Bielik, who was forced to play despite suffering from a groin problem, is another player Barry-Murphy hopes will benefit significantly from the upcoming international break. "I think he has some pain in his groin when he's doing certain actions," he said. "But hopefully today will make him feel a lot more confident about that, and the work that we can do over the next 10 days or two weeks will put him in a much better place for the next game."
The defensive injury crisis has undoubtedly contributed to Cardiff's alarming vulnerability at the back, with nine goals conceded in their last two matches against West Ham and Burnley. But there is no questioning their attacking prowess or spirit, with Barry-Murphy insisting his young players' refusal to accept defeat is a hugely encouraging sign for the future.
"We were backed by an incredible stadium today," he added. "It was difficult for everybody at 4-1, but once we got that second goal, you could feel the energy from the stands and that was reciprocated on the pitch."
Having watched Robertson recover from his own-goal nightmare to score the winner, Barry-Murphy felt the midfielder epitomised everything he admired about his squad. "His mentality was symbolic of the team because he went down the other end, kept attacking, tried to create chances for us and scored a goal that I've seen him score many times throughout his footballing journey because he has an incredible technical level."
