Mark Hudson praised his Cardiff City team for earning a creditable draw against an organised and difficult Coventry City team.
The Bluebirds drew another blank at the CBS Arena but were forced to put in a backs-to-the-wall performance to come away with a point from the Midlands.
It means Cardiff have now drawn all four games since the World Cup window ended, but this one pleased the Bluebirds boss in particular.
"When you don't particularly play well with the ball, don't get beat," he said. "A clean sheet at this ground, against a very good Coventry side, a good manager, with huge experience in the game. For me, the best, in-form striker in the league as well.
"They put their bodies on the line for the club. The badge, their team-mates, for us, that's all we can ask for.
"We turned the ball over too much, put the ball at risk too much. We went through where their strength was with the box midfield through the middle, use the opposite side, but we got trapped a little bit sometimes. Our decision-making, we spoke about that at half-time.
"When you do that, you've got to put your body on the line, show togetherness, keep compact distances. We've had fatigue and a few cramp issues. The lads have looked tired but they kept going, some of the players even played out of position. That's testament to them."
Coventry looked the more likely side to win it as they dominated the second half. Viktor Gyokeres looked particularly dangerous and Hudson called him the most "in-form striker in the league".
The City manager heaped praise on centre-back duo Perry Ng and Cedric Kipre for keeping the striker quiet all evening.
"His runs are brilliant. He pulls into space, he is a threat. He is 6ft-plus, he's quick, strong, everything you'd want as a striker," Hudson said of Gyokeres.
"It's down to the players to deal with that situation and I thought Cedric and Perry dealt with it brilliantly."
Cardiff were without first-choice striker pairing Callum Robinson and Kion Etete for the trip to Coventry. However, Hudson provided a positive prognosis on both players, who were carrying knocks into the game.
"Robbo travelled and just missed out.," he said of Robinson. "We couldn't risk him really and it would have been a risk. He nearly made it through, but not quite. So that's not bad.
"Kion has had a spike in his intensity in game-time. He was fatigued and I don't want to put players at risk, we need him. We have a squad that is capable of coming to a place like this and getting a clean sheet.
"I'm looking to travel with a fully-fit squad come Blackburn."
The next time Hudson takes charge of the Bluebirds, against Rovers on New Year's Day, the transfer window will have opened. As things stand, of course, City are under and embargo.
Asked for an update on the situation, he said: "Nothing new. All the lawyers are dealing with the situation behind the scenes. Constant dialogue, but there's nothing new from yesterday."
There is a risk that if the embargo ekes on into the first few weeks of the window then some of the club's transfer targets might opt for other clubs over Cardiff.
"If that's to be the case, that's the case," he added. "We have got targets. If it doesn't happen before the first (of January), we will continue to work with the group that we've got.
"It's a long month."
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