Malky Mackay slams 'absolute howler' from referee Mike Dean in Cardiff City's loss to Crystal Palace

Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay has slammed referee Mike Dean's decision to disallow a header from Kenny Miller in his side's 1-0 League Cup semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace.

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Mackay told Sky Sports: "The referee not giving a goal is a surprise to me.

"I've looked at it again and again, maybe he has got in his mind he should have given a goal-kick rather than a corner and tried to rectify that.

"But he's had an absolute howler with that one. You don't level one thing up with another... play goes on.

"So I'm disappointed with that but there's still all to play for. I thought to a man we were tremendous tonight and overall I'm very proud of them.

"I thought we dominated play, were very bright and had countless chances, but it's only half-time now.

"We'll bring them back to Cardiff City Stadium now and we're going to have a right good go, don't worry about that."

Meanwhile, Palace manager Dougie Freedman was delighted with his side's first-leg victory, hailing Gardner's performance.

He said: "We showed character and determination. Anhtony was fantastic defensively - his qualities are there to be seen - but we all worked hard for the clean sheet.

"It might be the crucial goal. We have got a team set up to win away from home. We'll go there quietly confident and it'll be a very interesting game."

Match-winner Gardner was also delighted with how the game went, believing it was an impressive performance from the team as a whole and sees no reason why they cannot get a result in Cardiff in the second leg.

"It was a good team performance,” he said. “It was intense. You could see out there it was fiery game.

"Both teams came to win the game and it was a good cup tie. We'll get ready for the second leg now and hopefully we can go there and get a win.

"There's no reason why we can't. We are a very confident bunch of lads who have beaten some good teams along the way. We're looking to do the business there.

"He is always going to put the ball on the money, his free-kicks are dangerous."