Cardiff 'naive' in first defeat - Barry-Murphy

Brian Barry-Murphy says Cardiff City were naive as they lost their place at the top of the League One table.

But the Bluebirds head coach is confident his young side will be better from the first "bump in the road" of Bradford City's 3-1 win.

The defeat ended Cardiff's unbeaten start to the season, with the Bantams replacing them at the top of the third tier.

But Barry-Murphy admitted Cardiff did not defend well enough, missed chances and were guilty of being sucked into a feisty battle that disrupted hopes of a comeback.

"I think it's naturally very disappointing when you lose a game that's been billed as a top-of-the-table clash," Barry-Murphy said.

"We had some really, really good chances close to the goal which were better than we had in the previous weeks and we just didn't take them today.

"If you don't take those chances in the game of this magnitude, you're really reliant on being watertight at the back.

"And I think from front to back, we didn't defend well enough today to give ourselves a chance to win the game."

Callum Robinson's goal 13 minutes from time did pose the question of a potential comeback, but Barry-Murphy said his team blew the chance of a grandstand finish by committing too many fouls.

"We want to be an aggressive team who are on the front foot, but it's not an excuse to give needless or reckless fouls," the former Manchester City academy coach said.

"When Callum scored, there was a really good atmosphere and I was really keen to get another opportunity to enter the box and put Bradford a pressure and see if they could defend it.

"But we were quite naive and allowed Bradford take the sting out the game.

"And that's just important for us to understand how to chase the game when we are there."

It is the first time Cardiff have been beaten in any fixture since Barry-Murphy took charge this summer, the result seeing the side drop to fourth, three points behind new leaders Bradford with a game in hand.

But he added: "I believe in the talent we have in the dressing room. We don't go looking for defeats or for setbacks, but it's inevitable it's going to happen.

"Our dressing room has to become very calm in these situations because we know we're what we're working on individually and the players are improving - but it isn't going to be without bumps in the road.

"I watched really closely for clear signs in the second half of the behaviour from our team. Days like this can teach you more than any victory does, but you have to go through that to know it.

"You have to be so focused on how you improve week to week that it can't change based on what happens in the results."