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Jones proud of his Cardiff players despite final defeat

17/05/2008

Cardiff City manager Dave Jones urged his players to keep their heads up despite losing 1-0 to Portsmouth in the FA Cup final.

In a game where clear-cut chances were rare, it was a mistake from Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman which allowed Kanu to score the winning goal.

Cardiff may be one division below their Premier League opponents Portsmouth, but they held their own for the majority of the game and created chances as good as Pompey did.

"I think the supporters, the players and everyone connected with the club can be very proud," said Jones. "I'm just sorry that we didn't bring that final piece of silverware home.

"I think we pushed them all the way and I think it's credit to us how Harry (Redknapp) set his team out and in the end he was making changes to try and stop us.

"But I can't fault my players, they gave everything they have today and that's all I asked for before they went out."

Despite his obvious disappointment, Jones refused to put the blame on Enckelman for making the error which cost Cardiff the cup.

The Bluebirds manager reflected that "it's no time to blame anybody" and he was just proud that his "players gave everything they have got".