Steve Morison has passionately hit back at critics for suggesting his side don't understand the importance of the South Wales derby but insists he's keen to look at the bigger picture ahead of the final seven games of the Championship season.
Cardiff travel to Reading on Saturday in search of a much-needed reaction following their 4-0 humiliation at the hands of rivals Swansea City, a result that brought an emphatic end to a run of four games without defeat. It was a string of previous results that landed Morison the Championship's Manager of the Month award for March, but the fallout of the hammering from the Swans still looms large.
In the last four derby meetings, Cardiff have mustered just one win, one goal and three defeats, with their rivals netting a total of nine goals. It's a record that has sparked some questions as to where this fixture sits in terms of importance for the Bluebirds, such has been City's inability to match the passion of their near neighbours.
READ MORE: Swansea City understand what the South Wales derby means more than Cardiff City as differing approach of Martin and Morison shows
However, Morison has rubbished those claims, launching a staunch defence of his side ahead of their trip to take on the Royals.
"They only say that because we lost," Morison maintained. "We’ve got an ex-Cardiff captain (Mark Hudson) in my office. We’ve got Rammers (Tom Ramasut), who’s born and bred Cardiff. Young players in the dressing room. Joe Ralls who’s been here for 10 years.
"As I said on the day, we didn’t deal with the occasion. Personally, we tried to keep it as normal as possible leading up to it. No different to Liverpool, leading up to it. Big games, stuff they haven’t experienced before."
However, Morison admits that there might well have been an argument for including a few more experienced heads to help cope with the pressure better. "I look at the Wales game," he continued. "The importance of that was huge for the country. The calibre of players and experience on the pitch was huge.
"That’s why they dealt with it. We have to realise that we had a lot of players that have never dealt with it. I look back and think, should I have put a team with more experience out there? Should I have put the Will Vaulks' of the world, the Marlon Packs of the world out there to deal with the occasion?
"I felt I picked the best team. My one decision was Isaak Davies or Mark Harris from a personal point of view. It was the same team that dismantled Stoke.
"Isaak Davies didn’t start because he played two 90 mins for the U21s and he came in on Thursday and told me he was knackered. That was the decision on why I picked Harris over him. That’s my big learning from it. Should I have put in players more capable of dealing with the occasion a bit better?"
Cardiff will be backed by some 2,000 fans when they take on Reading this weekend and a win would help heal some of the wounds inflicted by their derby demolition. "That’s what we’ll ask of them," Morison replied when asked about the importance of a reaction.
"That’s what I’ve asked of the players every day in training. Hopefully we’ll have the same response we had after Bristol City, which is another big game we lost. Let’s hope the manager of the month curse struck before we even knew we had it!"
