Barry-Murphy's pride after Bluebirds win a battle

Brian Barry-Murphy gave a pat on the back to his Cardiff City players at Northampton Town after they proved they could come through a scrap to triumph on their travels.

Cardiff were made to work for victory against a physical Cobblers side, with the points not sealed until Chris Willock's sharp finish made it 3-1 in the third minute of added time.

Northampton had their chances, with Cardiff losing momentum at times in a hard-fought contest at Sixfields.

Aside from Cardiff delight over the result – which took Barry-Murphy's team back to the top of League One – there was satisfaction in the away dressing room over the manner of the victory.

"We have to show different sides to our character," Barry-Murphy said.

"We showed a clear sign of how resilient we can be and I am very proud of the players for that.

"This was a good test – and there will be more tests along the way."

Cardiff's success was their first away from home in League One since September and only their second since August.

The Welsh side have lost third-tier games at Blackpool and Bolton in the last month and exited the FA Cup at Peterborough.

"Northampton was a very difficult game in tough conditions," Barry-Murphy added.

"We had to weather different storms at different times in the game. That's one of the questions that has been levelled against us as a team as we deal with these away fixtures and [at Northampton] we did."