Liam Manning gives frank view on Bristol City's defeat to Cardiff City and reflects on January striker hunt

Liam Manning says Bristol City were 'nowhere near good enough' in their defeat to Cardiff City and cast his mind back to his search for a striker in the January transfer window.

Perry Ng's second-half header was enough for the Bluebirds to inflict a third consecutive defeat on the Robins, who were underwhelming on the day.

Manning's side struggled to create any real openings which left the fans frustrated.

"The quality in the final third (wasn't good enough), ultimately that, it's been a consistent message across the season," Manning said.

"If you look at how many goals we've scored this season, having the bravery to play and run forward, to cross, get in the box, the quality from us was nowhere near good enough.

"It's something that we can keep working at, keep doing but we need people to step up in high-pressure moments and deliver."

The Cardiff goal came from a corner kick from David Turnbull, which was the Bluebirds' 17th set-piece goal of the season - the most in the Championship.

Manning spoke in his pre-Cardiff conference about their threat from dead-ball situations and was frustrated with how his side conceded the deciding goal.

"It's probably their biggest threat, the area they scored from, the first contact, we knew that as well, but the area of the throw-in before that leads to the corner, the organisation is just totally wrong," he said.

"We can give people everything but taking responsibility is stepping up and making sure you do your job. It's hugely annoying because I didn't think it was a high-level game with much quality from both sides, so we had to make sure we didn't lose and it finished 0-0."

Scott Twine and Dire Mebude were brought in to boost the Robins attack in January, and despite the lack of goals in the team, Manning said City couldn't have done anymore to recruit a striker in the latest transfer window.

"There's a real shortage (of strikers) in general in England," he said. "I think in a lot of games we play, the thing that winds me up at the minute is that everyone is very complimentary on the way we play - but I'd rather take wins, to be honest."

Tommy Conway leads City's scoring charts with eight goals in all competitions, while Nahki Wells has four goals.

Manning continued: "We definitely tried, but it was a tough market for everybody. Ultimately I think it's a problem for a lot of teams (goalscoring). Preston were on a run not long ago and then they shifted the momentum, Middlesbrough has a similar issue around goalscoring and creation.

"If we could have done something to affect it in January we would have done it, but it just wasn't there."