Town captain Sam Morsy was keen to stress the importance of coming back stronger after the Blues were beaten 2-1 by Cardiff City in cruel circumstances.

Ryan Wintle’s 95th-minute equaliser and Callum O’Dowda’s 100th-minute winner condemned Town to just a fifth defeat of the season in heartbreaking fashion, leaving them third in the Championship table and one point behind Leeds United.

Morsy was, of course, gutted by the stoppage time events at the Cardiff City Stadium, but says the nature of the Bluebirds’ goals were disappointing vows to come back stronger ahead of the final nine matches of the season.

“We worked hard to take the lead and then unfortunately we couldn’t hold it,” he said. “We conceded two goals which we’ll be disappointed with by our standards, but that’s football.

“We’ve won plenty of games late and that can happen if you’re not completely dialled in, which I don’t think we were in the last bit.

“Obviously there’s lots going on in the game, but we felt we could have done a little bit better for both goals. But we’ll improve from it, review it and we’ll come back stronger.

“It’s just moments, really. They didn’t really have any chances, it was just two moments that we had to deal with the details better. But we’ll look back on it and we’ll improve. Every time we’ve had a knock, we’ve always come back stronger.”

Morsy felt the Blues deserved what would have been a 1-0 victory before the late Cardiff siege, but referenced the Welsh side’s own form, with Erol Bulut’s side having now won their last four matches.

He said: “I’d say [we deserved the win] but you have to go to the last whistle and these moments in games. They’re on a good run of form themselves, no-one’s going to roll over for us.

“It’s not a nice feeling at all, but it will motivate us to come back better and stronger. We’ve had a lot of good times, good wins away from home and late wins. This is a late loss and it’s part of football. They’re a good team and it’s going to be about how we respond.”

One thing that cannot be questioned about the Town squad in recent years is their mental strength, which the Blues skipper says is something that is worked on within the group very often.

“That’s been the motto and the mantra of how you react for a couple of years now,” the 32-year-old said. “It’s not our day today, but we’ll work hard, dust ourselves down, improve and review it. We won’t just gloss over it and say it’s one of those things.

“A lot of it’s internal with the culture the manager has created and the group. It’s something you have to work on more than anything, but it’s something we’ve got in abundance.

“Every time we’ve lost this season, we’ve reacted really well and that’s the reaction we want.”

Town’s goal came with just 11 minutes of regulation time remaining, when former Cardiff striker Kieffer Moore fired a low left-footed strike into the bottom corner.

It was Moore’s sixth goal in just nine appearances since returning to the club on loan from Bournemouth on deadline day.

“Brilliant, he’s done great,” Morsy said of the Wales international. “He gives so much to the team, he works so hard and he’s a real natural goalscorer. He’s going to score a lot of goals from now until the end of the season, I’m sure.”

The Blues still find themselves in a terrific position in the table, with McKenna’s side having accumulated 78 points from 37 league fixtures.

Morsy said: “It’s not a bad position, at all. Today isn’t our day, but we’ve had plenty of good days and we’ll work hard for more of them.”

Having previously won six matches on the bounce, the Town midfielder knows the Blues have shown they are capable of going on such a run and has challenged the team to do it again.

The Egyptian international said: “Definitely, that’s the challenge. We get a little kick in the teeth, you go again, you improve and come back stronger.

“We’ll take the time on the training ground to improve and iron out things and we’ll be stronger for it, I’m sure.”

More than 3,200 members of the Blue Army made the long trip to south Wales, and Morsy says the support the team have received provides motivates the players even further.

“Incredible support again, they support us so well,” he said. “You can see at the end when we’ve conceded two late goals and we’re losing but they’re still so positive and with us.

“It’s actually motivation, to be honest. You look in the away stand and you see how behind the players they are and how behind the club they are. Rest assured we’ll keep working as a club to keep improving and see where we get to.”

He added: “You can dust yourselves down. We’ve had lots of games, lots of wins and we’ve had a really successful period.

“We’ll look at how we can improve and how we can get better individually and collectively. We’ll come back stronger.”

Photo: Matchday Images

GavITFC added 18:18 - Mar 9 Just what we wanted to hear! Come on town this ain’t over yet
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Bert added 19:10 - Mar 9 A proper captain is our Sam. Because we have been so damm good recently, today’s defeat and the manner of it feels worse than the two defeats against Leeds. By the morning, it will feel a lot better. Whatever happens this season, our wonderful manager should get the manager of the year award. Sam is already chalked in for club player of the year.
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Gforce added 23:39 - Mar 9 Wise words from our best captain since Matty Holland. Nine cup finals to go ,we can still do this !!
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pennblue added 07:03 - Mar 10 lets hope that result is not the one that keeps us out the top two. We are going to have to go on another run until the end of the season and we are going to have to win those away matches
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Dissboyitfc added 07:53 - Mar 10 Team looked a little slower and a little weary yesterday, the difference between winning and losing is so fine, dont need to be much off your best for the result to go against you. No midweek game should give us time to refresh those legs. Top man is Morsey!
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Bazza8564 added 08:34 - Mar 10 offer me 18 points from 21? Yes please Offer me this position in the league at Xmas? Yes please 9 games to go, so much will change between now and May, we go again
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johnwarksshorts added 08:34 - Mar 10 Great motivational words from Captain fantastic..we can definitely bounce back from this frustrating defeat. A full week on training pitch to sort things out. COYB.
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pablo123 added 22:26 - Mar 12 REALLY ??? Didn't seem like that over Christmas Sam?
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