Erol Bulut questioned Cardiff’s mentality after an “unacceptable” second-half performance in their 3-1 defeat against Millwall at The Den.
Jake Cooper’s volley put the Lions in front at the break after Michael Obafemi and Yakou Meite traded goals during an entertaining first half.
However, Neil Harris’ side controlled the second half, limiting the Bluebirds to scraps before Duncan Watmore made sure of things in stoppage time with a cool finish past Ethan Horvath.
The result lifts Millwall into 16th, six points clear of the relegation zone, while Cardiff are now 11th with three games remaining.
And Bulut insists his side need to show a winning mentality in their remaining games.
“Millwall at home are a good team, they are working and fighting and I was satisfied with the first half, but with the second half, I have no words for the second half,” he said.
“Nobody can tell me ‘two days before we had a game and we were tired’, Millwall also played a few days ago.
“The main thing is the mentality, how you go in the game, if you want to change this game, if you want to win this game, what you are expecting from yourself individually.
“I can speak only to my players, but the mentality on the field has to change, especially in the second half.
“Consistency is the biggest problem that we have this season. If it was a little bit different then we would be speaking now about different things.
“It was like day and night. In the first half it was clear that the better team was Cardiff but we conceded two goals and the second half was not acceptable.
“If you have these small mistakes in your game then it is difficult to come back.”
The win is a huge boost for relegation-threatened Millwall and Harris believes his side are proving a lot of people wrong.
“Every man and his dog wanted to tell me that these lads can’t play at The Den,” Harris said.
“They do know how to play at The Den and it was a big thing for me to try and galvanise the football club and bring the terrace and the pitch together.
“It’s down to the players when they go on the pitch, so they take the credit and the praise for it.
“Tuesday night against Leicester was a monumental performance from the players and a special evening, but in some ways I’m more pleased with today because to back it up with such a comprehensive performance is testament to the group’s mentality.
“We looked a lot more confident today with the ball and I think if we had scored the third goal at the start of the second half we could have gone on to score four or five.
“It’s important for the football club to stay at this level.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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