Cardiff manager Malky Mackay was pleased with a battling performance from his players after they suffered a cruel run of injuries during the 0-0 draw with Leicester.
Mackay was left without any substitute options by half-time, after Craig Conway, Robert Earnshaw and Mark Hudson all picked up knocks which required their withdrawal during the opening 45 minutes of the npower Championship clash. The hosts were later effectively reduced to 10 men when Rudy Gestede pulled up with a hamstring injury with 20 minutes to go.
"For the last 20 minutes we were playing with 10 men, Rudy's hamstring went and he was lame," said the Cardiff boss. "We worked ever so hard for each other and they didn't cause us any problems until the last two minutes or so."
He added: "For the first 25 minutes of the second half we came out of the traps and really penned Leicester and the pressure would have ended up telling.
"I've had three down in the first half, which is quite bizarre. We knew we had to up the tempo. Craig Conway took a bad tackle in the first minute and rolled his ankle. We gave him 15 minutes. By half-time 'Huds' took a nasty challenge on his ankle. We felt we were in casualty ward 10."
Leicester boss Sven-Goran Eriksson was pleased to see his team gain a point, and the former England manager believes the Foxes are starting to gel.
"Lately you can see, even against very strong teams, it is very difficult to beat us. And that is very good," Eriksson said. "If we keep keeping clean sheets and creating chances we will win a lot of games.
"I think we were okay in the first half and played good football. I wouldn't say we were in control but okay.
"I think we stopped in the second half and started to kick long balls. For 20 or 25 minutes Cardiff were on top, then the last 15 we started to play and we created good occasions to score.
"We can't be disappointed with 0-0 away at Cardiff. A clean sheet is good for the 'keeper, defenders and team. It's not an easy place to play."
Source: PA
