Enckelman offers no excuse

Cardiff keeper admits he could have done better

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 17th May 2008

peter enckelman cardiff

Enckelman: Costly error

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Peter Enckelman insists that his FA Cup final howler will not weigh heavy on his mind.

The Cardiff keeper failed to hold on to a John Utaka cross 37 minutes into the Bluebirds' contest with Portsmouth, a mistake which allowed Kanu to stab home the only goal of the game.

The Finnish international admitted that he could have 'dealt with it better', but is refusing to get too downbeat after helping the Welsh club to their first final since 1927.

Conditions

"It's not going to be hounding me," he said. "Conditions were wet in the first half, there was a bit of rain.

"I am not going to make excuses but it was a new ball, I should probably have dealt with it better but on another day it might have bounced somewhere else and the defender clears it.

"But, as it was, it came straight to Kanu and he tapped it in."

Proud

Despite his gaffe being highlighted as the moment which saw the cup slip from Cardiff's grasp, Enckelman revealed that he has received no criticism from anyone inside the club.

"There were no harsh words being saidit's just one of those things in football," he added.

"I was obviously disappointed we went 1-0 down but I thought we could get back into the game and everyone at half-time thought this was a very winnable game and obviously that was the mentality from us all the way until the end.

"If you start apologising then you start thinking should one of the attacking players have played a better final ball in or finished it off better? So there's no apologies.

"As a team even the manager said we have reason to be proud. We gave them a good game, we didn't look like we were a league below them.

"We dominated parts of the game, we just couldn't score."

Future

With his current deal with the Bluebirds set to expire now that the season has come to a close the former Aston Villa man admitted that he remains unsure what his future will hold.

"I'm not going to think about it today or tomorrow, I will think about it next week," he continued.

"Cardiff have been in touch with my agent but I have not been bothering him at all as I've wanted to focus on my football the last month or two."