Steve Evans post Cardiff City...
Steve Evans confessed that his side’s 3-1 defeat to Cardiff City at AESSEAL New York Stadium was hard to take.The Millers slipped to defeat as Bruno Ecuele Manga, Federico Macheda and Conor McAleny helped themselves to first half goals, before Danny Ward netted his second in as many games with a late consolation.
Evans’ side started strongly in South Yorkshire but were dealt a blow when the Bluebirds capitalised on their first chance of the game, which left the Millers’ chief scratching his head:
“I think we started the game well and we were in total control,” he said.
“The first time Cardiff got into our box was from a corner and an individual error lead to the player scoring a simple header. That was an individual not doing his job because we don’t zonal mark, we man mark.
“The second goal is difficult to accept because it looks offside and the third was unfortunate because it took two or three ricochets. But obviously when you go three nil down it’s unacceptable.”
The Millers were left with a mountain to climb following the interval and Evans believed his side showed a marked improvement after the break:
“After half time we showed a bit of character, desire and application and we went to try and win the second half.
“I think they scored twice in a couple of minutes and we were very close to doing so as well and that would have made it a rousing finish although I thought we put them under a lot of pressure.”
Following a good win against relegation-threatened Millwall at the weekend Evans noted that his players were still feeling the effects of their efforts against the Lions:
“There was a bit of sloppiness and we were a little flat to be honest compared to Saturday against Millwall. We felt that before the game and we tried to get into the players."