”We started off well with a great break from Kevin McNaughton down the right hand side in the first 10 minutes and had one off the line.We were pretty comfortable but goals change games and that fantastic dead ball from Andy Reid settled them down. Two minutes later we’ve got to defend the cross better and that gives them a bit of breathing space.
”And a couple of minutes into the second half, well, we’ve certainly got to be better than that.”
Mackay admitted there was a hint of offside during the build-up which led to a McNaughton foul on Reid and the subsequent free-kick.
But he admitted: “I’m certainly not making any excuse for that.
”I wondered about the offside but I wasn’t sure if their player touched it.
”A few hands went up but you’ve just got to play to the whistle. It (offside) could have been the case but you’ve just got to play the game at that point.”
Heidar Helguson’s third goal in two games 15 minutes from time gave Cardiff hope that they could pull off an astonishing comeback.
”The third goal gave us a mountain to climb,” said Mackay.
”But it was a a mountain on another day that I felt we might have climbed.
”We ended up with 15 attempts on their target in the second half and threw everything at them.
”On another day one or two of them might have gone in – we hit the post and had two blocked on the line which would have taken it to 3-2.
”With mounting pressure on their goal that would have changed things.
”But we haven’t lost the game through rustiness after two weeks without a game.
”Somebody’s just got to go and attack a header and don’t have two people going for the one ball which happened for the third.
”It’s just things that people need to do better.