Dougie Freedman

Dougie Freedman hailed his side despite losing on penalties

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Crystal Palace boss Dougie Freedman hailed his side despite losing on penalties to Cardiff in the Carling Cup Semi-Final.

Sean Scannell and Jermaine Easter had their efforts saved by Tom Heaton and Jonathan Parr blazed over the bar.

Despite this Freedman hailed his side’s character after going down to 10 men with 13 minutes of normal time remaining.

“It was a fantastic physical effort. I felt we were asked a lot of questions which we answered. We dug in and I felt we grew into the game,” Freedman said.

“The sending-off was disappointing but the response - you could not ask much more as a manager.

“The pride we’ve shown and the desire to work hard for each other and the commitment to each other was second to none and I’m really proud of that.

“I’m disappointed short-term, but long-term I think we can take a lot from that. We can take a lot from the challenge and the way we responded to it.

“I thought we were prepared and up for the challenge and we came close tonight.

“I think we won a lot of hearts tonight. It was a great cup tie and overall it was a very well-played game. It just wasn’t to be.

“With the physical output we had to put out in the game, it’s difficult to compose yourself and slot the penalties.”