01 October 2022

Mark Hudson hails Cardiff’s fighting spirit after late equaliser

01 October 2022

Interim Cardiff manager Mark Hudson hailed the unity of his players after Callum Robinson’s late equaliser prevented Burnley taking all three points in the Welsh capital.

Robinson scored for the first time since his move from West Brom last month to earn Cardiff a 1-1 Sky Bet Championship draw.

“I really enjoyed that – you saw fight and togetherness against what I think is the best team in the league,” said Hudson, who was in charge for the first time following the surprise departure of Steve Morison.

“It has been a tough two weeks and everyone around the football club has felt it.

“But you have to respond, you have to show character, and you have to fight hard for every yard on that pitch.

“We’ve gone toe to toe with them after going a goal down at home. We could easily go under, but they didn’t. We kept fighting.”

Robinson missed a penalty in Morison’s final game in charge – a 1-0 defeat at Huddersfield on September 17.

But the Republic of Ireland international made amends for that in the 90th minute against Burnley, rising at the far post to meet Mahlon Romeo’s cross and cancel out Nathan Tella’s strike just after half-time.

Hudson said: “He’s been away (on international duty), he’s travelled. He’s a great signing and a great kid.

“It’s his first game at home and his first goal, it puts that penalty to bed. I hope he gets many more going forward.

“It’s different (being manager), but what a proud moment. I really enjoyed watching the players give everything for that shirt.

“That’s all you can ask, and I’ll ask them to do that again on Tuesday (against Blackburn).”

Burnley have now taken the lead in their last three away games, only to drop points after being pegged back to 1-1 on each occasion.

Clarets boss Vincent Kompany said: “It’s something you have to work through.

“It’s happened and you can’t deny that. But we are looking close in those moments to finish games off, which we don’t, and that’s crucial.

“We have made it a little bit difficult for ourselves. But it was always going to be a game with a little bit of an unpredictable narrative.

“You’ve got a new coach coming in, with that little bit of a lift it creates and the (different) tactics before the game.

“You’ve got the international break as well, players travelling all over the world and coming back, so it was a bit more of a challenge to us.”

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