Scott Parker admits Burnley were ‘well short’ after Carabao Cup defeat to League One Cardiff

Scott Parker admits Burnley were ‘well short’ after suffering a Carabao Cup defeat to League One Cardiff on Tuesday night.

Cardiff upset Premier League opposition to reach the Carabao Cup fourth round for the first time since 2012, thanks to goals from Joel Colwill and Callum Robinson. Zian Flemming pulled one back for Burnley, but couldn’t get that equaliser.

It was a much improved performance, with head coach Brian Barry-Murphy praising Cardiff’s character as they responded to their first defeat of the season, 3-1 loss at home to Bradford in League One at the weekend.

Cardiff can now look forward to a first fourth-round tie since 2012, when they went on to reach the final at Wembley only to be beaten by Liverpool.

Burnley boss Scott Parker, who made 11 changes, said: “The feeling is disappointment. We wanted to get a result and keep us in the cup but that hasn’t happened.

“I’m also disappointed with the performance. We were well short of where we needed to be. There were some tactical things we were short on but lots of others – intensity, duels and being sloppy on the ball.

“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb. We had some really good chances to come back into it but didn’t take them.

“It would be unfair of me, though, to say we’d have deserved it on this occasion.

“The fundamentals weren’t there. You need the foundations and then you can start layering it.

“I don’t think there was a lack of willingness. But we weren’t at it.

“There’s a big squad here and we need to give them minutes. They are going to be used during the season because of injuries and such like.

“Full credit to Cardiff.”

 

Cardiff boss Brian Barry-Murphy said: “It means a lot to us to play the way we did. And to bounce back from what was undoubtedly a very disappointing day for us on Saturday.

“I think it means a lot in terms of how we want to play. When you play a team in the Premier League you have two choices: you either step back and hope for the best or try and take destiny into your own hands.

“We were very aggressive in how we played our game and the lads were on the front foot right from the first whistle. Even when we conceded the goal we tried to be as good in possession as possible to take the game away from Burnley, and I thought we were.

“Our pressing was really good tonight, probably better than it was on Saturday. Our defending of the box wasn’t good then so to see players of the calibre Burnley have brought on late is a testament to how we coped with that, and I liked a lot of what I saw from us at the end of the game.

“You have to show character in sport as in life,” he continued. “And there would have been question marks in the players’ minds as there would have been in supporters’ minds.

“You saw the supporters today who had come on a Tuesday night to put in this length of a journey, and will probably do the same on Saturday, so we just wanted to reward that and give them a performance that they could enjoy.

“When you have a result like we did on Saturday it’s very disappointing in the moment, but the feeling of coming back to the pitch to put it right is always nice, and we’ll put everything into giving a performance even better that today’s on Saturday, which we believe we can.”

Here’s how fans reacted as Scott Parker admits Burnley were ‘well short’ after Carabao Cup defeat to League One Cardiff…

@MartynStevenso3: Well done Cardiff. You were great. Fully deserved. Hope you go far. We were outplayed, outclassed, outfought and you were comfortable winners. 👍👍

@guiltisgood: Bagan & Mini Colwill will get the plaudits and rightly so but special mention to Chambers, by far his best game at CB, he was phenomenal

@Carlosgatti74: Well done Cardiff. All the best in the next round. Not sure how many changes you made but we made 11. Not gonna start waffling on making excuses though it’s your night enjoy 👍

@neddthomas: Brilliant response to Saturday. Into Round Four for the first time in since 2011/12. Callum Robinson has three goals in his last three. Calum Chambers’ best performance at CB. A lot to like there

@kristophisonn: Can’t say you lot didn’t deserve that, didn’t look like a team that should be playing in league 1. Definitely back in the champ next season best of luck 👍🏼

@JoshPrknsn: If anyone can show me a bigger drop off than Marcus Edwards I’ll be shocked. None of these second stringers lay a glove on the first 11, and that’s a worry #twitterclarets

@Clarets14125078: Disrespectful to us paying fans putting in a performance like that. Fans knew it would be treated like a training game before, which is why attendance was poor. Most of those players today need to take a long hard look at themselves. Poor isn’t a harsh enough description

@BFCDanny1: If we’re going to not try in the cups can we at least let the fans know so they don’t waste their time/money going to watch it?

@sebvannoortwijk: 💩 glad I didn’t bother going.

@TurfMoorClarets: Awful first half, better second but still not good enough! #twitterclarets

@TommyBfc: This is why Parker is reluctant to make substitutions in the league, our back up players aren’t good enough.

@kristophisonn: Hannibal is the only man trying

@TurfMoorClarets: Not one of these deserves to start our next prem game! Awful #twitterclarets

@StephenYoung74: Slightly disappointing would be an understatement