Brian Barry-Murphy praises Yousef Salech after Cardiff claim Leyton Orient draw

Cardiff head coach Brian Barry-Murphy praised goalscorer Yousef Salech as they came from behind to draw 1-1 at Leyton Orient.

A fine solo effort from the Dane cancelled out a Dom Ballard opener, keeping the south Wales side at the top of League One.

Salech scored one and almost created another for Alex Robertson, although a mistake from goalkeeper Nathan Trott gifted the hosts the lead.

However, Barry-Murphy gave backing to both goalscorer and shotstopper in a tough afternoon.

He said: “Yousef played a really good game, he was really brave and led the line well. He led well from the front.

“In the second half he made a good decision to square to Robertson, it was a selfless pass and Alex was in a better position.

“He has that selfish streak anyway, for him to think what’s best for the team was important. Some of our shots today were a bit wild and reckless.

“Nathan played really well for us after his mistake, he made a great save and in the second half his performance was pretty flawless.

“We grew well into the game in the second half. We looked pretty dangerous in the first half, but we took some unnecessary risks.”

Cardiff, who were hit by a transfer embargo due to non-submission of annual accounts, went behind to an awful blunder from Trott, who allowed Ballard to rob him and slot home with ease after playing a one-two with Gabriel Osho in the 12th minute.

Trott redeemed himself on 21 minutes when he palmed away a header from the onrushing Alfie Lloyd at close range.

Cardiff equalised on 33 minutes with a superb solo 50-yard run by Salech, where his power and pace was too much for the home backline – before rounding Killian Cahill to slot home.

After Robertson was denied by a huge Tom James block on 74 minutes, in the best chance of the second half, Leyton Orient head coach Richie Wellens was pleased at a much improved performance.

He said: “We wanted the game to look like that. We didn’t want a slow, technical, tactical game where they kept finding passes and dominate the ball, because the majority of teams they play they do that.

“Probably along with Luton, Bolton, probably Huddersfield, they’ve probably got the best squad in the league.

“They never really carved us open much. Their goal came from a big punt upfield, their big lad gets on a run and scored.

“I’m just disappointed that after 33 to 34 minutes we’re not one or two nil up, but instead it’s one apiece.

“A lot of our players were really good today and we need that consistency. It was full of effort, full of work rate and desire.”