Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Glen Williams

Mark Hudson slams 'naive' Cardiff City players after Wigan sickener

Mark Hudson hit out at the naivety of his Cardiff City players who allowed Wigan Athletic the opportunity to score a 96th-minute equaliser.

The Bluebirds took the lead through Callum O'Dowda in the 82nd minute and appeared to have broken a winless run stretching back to November 5, when they beat Sunderland 1-0.

However, Will Keane's injury-time strike means City are now without a win in nine games and Hudson bemoaned his players' immaturity and lack of game management at the end of the match.

UPDATE: Mark Hudson has been sacked as Cardiff City manager

"We've got an opportunity to kick the ball in the corner twice and we don't," Hudson said. "We let them play forward and then we don't defend our box.

"So ultimately, it's naïve from our point of view. We've worked hard to break down a Wigan team that came to frustrate.

"It's decision-making, ultimately, we've got an opportunity late in the game to keep the ball in and around and run the clock down if that's how you want to manage the game, which we should have done. So it's naïve.

"We worked hard to break them down. We got our goal and we should see it out."

Cardiff's lack of quality at the top end of the pitch was glaring once again, though. They were dealt with well by the Wigan midfield and defence, who had set up for a draw rather than to take the game to the Bluebirds.

Nevertheless, Cardiff struggled to break them down until that 82nd-minute strike from O'Dowda and it served to highlight their desperate need for forward reinforcements in this window.

"We've had to make changes today," Hudson said when asked about his team's lack of attacking threat. "We've only had some lads train, very lightly, Thursday, who have been out for a week of illness.

"We tried to probe when they've got a lot of numbers behind the ball and we do get in front. And then, like I said, it's down to us to be able to see that out. It's not down to whether we have got new players coming in or not."

It was noticeable that boos rang out towards the end of the match. Whether they were aimed at the team, manager or referee is of course unknown.

However there is pressure mounting on Hudson and his Cardiff team, who slipped to 21st in the league after the draw with the Latics.

Speaking of the boos and the pressure, Hudson said: "I think [the boos] are directed at the ref. If they are directed at anything else then it's something we have got to own and deal with.

"That's part of football. We've got to deal with it and we've got to stand up and and own the situation. We played in a game that was tight. We took the lead and we should see it out."

READ NEXT

Cardiff City 1-1 Wigan Athletic: Latics hit injury-time equaliser as Bluebirds' winless run stretches to nine

The Bluebirds took on the Latics in this weekend's instalment of Championship action

Everton recall Cardiff City's Niels Nkounkou as full-back completes move to France

The Sean Morrison interview: My untold Cardiff City stories and the difficult conversation that ended it all

Cardiff City transfer news as Hudson issues blunt response to star's links to Sheffield Wednesday and key man a major doubt for Wigan

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.