Callum Robinson pulled a goal back but ultimately the Bluebirds were comfortably beaten by Bradford CityCardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)

Cardiff City boss Brian Barry-Murphy said his players were “naïve” in the 3-1 defeat by Bradford City, a result which saw their unbeaten league run came to an end.

The Bluebirds spurned a number of clear-cut chances at Cardiff City Stadium before goals from Tommy Leigh, Antoni Sarcevic and Josh Neufville condemned them to a first loss of the season. Callum Robinson pulled one back late on, but Barry-Murphy was left frustrated with both his team’s wastefulness in attack and their game management.

“We have to understand if we create as many chances we did today, then hopefully we’re going to take them,” he said.

“But if we don’t, we have to be super clean in how we defend. In the second half, there were a lot of fouls from our perspective that weren’t good. We want to be aggressive and on the front foot, but it’s not an excuse to give needless or reckless fouls. It took a lot of momentum away from the game.

“Even when Callum scored a good goal and the supporters were amazing behind us, I was really keen to get another opportunity to enter the box and put Bradford under pressure.

“But we were quite naïve and allowed Bradford to take the sting out of the game. It’s important for us to understand how to chase the game when we are there.”

Barry-Murphy admitted he was pleased with much of City’s build-up play but pointed to their lack of ruthlessness as the decisive factor.

“We created some really clear-cut chances. The opportunities we had were really clear, but we didn’t take them,” he said.

“If you don’t take those chances in a game of this magnitude, you’re reliant on being watertight at the back, and from front to back we didn’t defend well enough.

“In possession we were good, and we created some clear chances. Dave Turnbull was in a great position (to score), Rubin (Colwill) chipped to the back post for Cian Ashford, Yousef (Salech) had a really good header. But you also have to give credit to them – they defended their box really well.”

There was also an injury concern for the Cardiff boss, with Ronan Kpakio forced off at half-time.

“Ronan had an issue with his heel which we’ll get scanned tomorrow,” Barry-Murphy confirmed. “I don’t know how serious or not it is. It’s a slight concern for me.”

There was also no Dylan Lawlor in the matchday squad, either. On the Wales international’s omission, the Irishman said: “He trained yesterday, he didn’t’ complete training satisfactorily from our medical team’s point of view.

“And as such wasn’t cleared to be involved in the game, it would have been a big risk to involve him, just one that made no sense to take.”

Despite the defeat, Barry-Murphy said his players’ refusal to give in after falling three behind was one positive to take.

“There were certain things I was looking for in the second half in terms of how the players attacked,” he added. “They never gave in and that’s probably the most important thing for me to see moving forward.”

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