Cardiff's Sabri Lamouchi:
"This is a tough challenge and I am not a magician. I still believe we will do it (stay up). I must be positive. We just need to get some confidence to get results. I think the players believe, they fight and they have the quality to make a difference. Middlesbrough is one of the best teams in this league.
"For my first home game I was expecting a different result but we must be honest, they played well. We gave them the first goal, we came back quickly but you saw the difference between one team playing with confidence and the other without it. They deserved the three points. We tried to have a different energy and mentality in the second half and we competed more. We tried everything but unfortunately it was not enough. I have maximum optimism, we just need to work."
Middlesbrough's Michael Carrick:
"I'm really pleased, we knew it would be a hard game and we expected it, but we were ready for it. It was a game of two halves in terms of our style, in the first half we played some of the best stuff since I came here. In the second half we had to dig in, but the boys who came off the bench made a really big difference for us.
"I was proud of the efforts the boys put in and they got their reward. The way we responded to giving the goal away was pleasing, and in the end I am really happy."