Head coach Neil Redfearn spoke of his disappointment after seeing United fall to a 3-1 defeat away to Cardiff City.

There was little between the sides in a goalless first half, but the hosts found themselves with a two-goal lead after 67 minutes following quick-fire efforts from Bruno Ecuele Manga and Federico Macheda.

Alex Mowatt pulled one back with a smart finish on 77 minutes as Redfearn’s men went in search of an equaliser, only for Kenwyne Jones to add a third following a defensive mix-up.

"The result’s poor," said Redfearn. "The first-half performance was okay, I thought we limited them to long-range chances and they never really looked like scoring.

"I thought we controlled and managed the game. We talked at half-time about being a little bit more adventurous, about the three strikers linking better and getting on the ball in the holes.

"But they had a spell after half-time – 15 or 20 minutes when they just blew us away and they scored twice.

"The first goal was poor from our point of view, they were getting in and around the box too easy but the second goal was a deflection. Then at 2-0 you’re up against it."

Redfearn introduced young midfielder Chris Dawson and Casper Sloth with the scoreline at 2-0 and felt they made an impression off the bench, as Cardiff found themselves under pressure.

"I thought the changes worked, little Dawson came on and made a difference, Mowatt took his goal really well," the head coach said.

"At 2-1, we looked like we were going to do something but obviously the third goal is a mix-up.

"The result and the manner of the goals is the most disappointing thing.

"They were struggling at that time when the game was quite stretched, we were having little pockets of play and regaining possession quite quickly and easily to get around their box.

"We created one or two half chances, one or two little glimpses of things, but you’ve got to keep the back door shut. That’s the bottom line.

"If you concede two, you’ve got to get three to win so we’ve got to keep things tighter at the back, be a bit more thorough with defending in and around our own box.

"There’s plenty to work on but I thought there was one or two plusses as well."