Cardiff City interim boss Omer Riza says he does not regret the substitutions he made in the Bluebirds’ 1-1 draw with Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Cardiff led through Ollie Tanner’s superb opening goal and seemed to be in control of the contest before a switch to five defenders on 66 minutes saw them lose momentum.
Riza’s substitutions have been criticised by some Cardiff fans, but the interim boss says he felt it was the right decision.
“Misses when you are 1-0 up are always costly because anything can happen and it allows the opposition to apply pressure,” he told BBC Radio Wales Sport.
“But we missed those opportunities and that is something we need to improve.
“I don’t really have any regrets on the substitutions, I felt the game was swaying a little bit, I thought they were getting through us a bit more through the middle of the pitch.
“We thought out of possession we could go 5-4-1.
“We still managed to maintain a certain amount of pressure, but we need to be calmer in our processes.”
Riza admitted the draw, which failed to lift Cardiff off the foot of the Championship, dented the Bluebirds’ morale.
“The players are deflated because it (winning the game) was in the palm of our hands,” he added.
“But before the game I think we’d have taken a point. It hasn’t taken us off the bottom of the table, but I am happy with the players.”
Bristol City boss Liam Manning told Sky Sports:
“I think when I look at the week, it’s probably a little bit of us this season. I’m frustrated, I think, that we haven’t got more points.
“I thought we had some good moments and good chances today, especially early on. Probably frustrated is how I am feeling right now.
“I thought today we gave up too many chances, too many little bits that weren’t quite right that led to them having decent opportunities, which probably didn’t happen in the previous two games.
“I think the division will be one of the tightest in a long while. The margins are so fine.”