Steve Morison has defiantly defended his Cardiff City side in the aftermath of their historic derby defeat last weekend. 

The Bluebirds were humiliated 4-0 by Swansea City as Russell Martin’s side completed the first league double in the 110-year history of this intense rivalry.

But Morison has taken the brunt of the responsibility for the defeat, claiming his team selection lacked the experienced heads needed to get through such an occasion. 

The Cardiff boss also reflected that the team’s approach to the game was wrong, admitting they should not have tried to treat it like any normal game.

Morison claimed that the team used the same approach to the big FA Cup tie with Liverpool earlier in the season.

However, neither game worked out well for the Welsh outfit as they lost both games comfortably. 

The 38-year-old has rubbished any claims from fans or pundits that Cardiff lacked the passion to compete with their old rivals.

"They only say that because we lost," said Morison, via Wales Online.

"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.

"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.”

 

 

That defeat left Cardiff five points behind Swansea in the table, stranded 17th in the Championship table.

This was also the first true blemish of Morison’s reign in charge of the team, having done well to steer the club out of any potential relegation threat.

Cardiff will be looking to bounce back when they return to action this weekend as they prepare to face Reading on Saturday.

The Verdict

Morison is right that his team are only criticised for a lack of passion because they lost, as passion is an overrated trait needed to win football games.

It was also clever of the Cardiff boss to take responsibility for such a humiliating defeat.

We have seen some managers in recent weeks take pot shots at their own players amid a poor run of form, but Morison didn’t stoop to that level.

The Reading game offers a chance to turn things around, but another defeat will leave a sour taste in the mouth of a lot of fans.