Robert Glatzel levelled at the back post eight minutes later, before Morrison headed the winner with 14 minutes to go.

"It feels great to get the win, I'm delighted for the players," he said.

"It wasn't for the purest. It was a tough battle between two aggressive sides.

"The conditions were awful with the wind, rain and cold but credit to my players for digging in and staying in the game.

"The big moments went for us with the penalty save, the game has flipped on that save.

"Credit the players for having the confidence to come from behind, it was impressive.

"It wasn't one of Sean's (Morrison) finest games, but he has been fantastic for the club and can be excused those nights.

"It shows his determination and character to be able to put it behind him and get the winner.

"Football is football and it changes so quickly. I was under pressure two weeks ago, and rightly so, but we have bounced back and won four in a row.

"We have a big game now on Saturday and that is the beauty of football, you can soon put it right.

"The players stepped up and showed some real character to come back against a good team.

"Michael (O'Neill) has done a great job to get Stoke where they are. This is a tough league to get out of."

Michael O'Neill was left counting the cost of missed chances.

"It is disappointing to lose the game, we had chances to add to the goal we had and didn't take them," he said.

"Cardiff took heart from the penalty save and we have lost the game because of set-pieces.

"The manner of the goals we conceded is disappointing. I have not seen them back yet to comment on the marking but they were bigger and more physical than us.

"We were already at a disadvantage with the subs and we had to try and combat that.

"We switched off from the crosses and it has cost us.

"It was a blow losing Tyrese Campbell. He is a big threat for us and he was our first-choice penalty-taker and would have taken that penalty.

"We are obviously disappointed to lose, it was a good chance for us to get another win and it's two points dropped for us.

"Cardiff stepped it up in the last 30 minutes and played well. We didn't have an answer for it.

"It is very tight at the top end. We have been on a good run of late and are right up where we need to be so we cannot get too downhearted."