Brian Barry-Murphy praised his Cardiff City players' strength of character and willingness to play through the pain as they fought back from 4-1 down to beat Burnley 5-4 in a wild Championship encounter.

The Bluebirds looked to be heading for a demoralising home defeat against their relegation-threatened opponents - who were in the Premier League last season - before scoring four goals in the final half an hour to climb up to 14th in the table.

The comeback was even more impressive considering the injury crisis which has ravaged Cardiff in recent weeks.

The Welsh side were without centre-backs Dylan Lawlor, Calum Chambers and Gabriel Osho – who faces four weeks out after knee surgery – while Krystian Bielik started in central defence despite not being fully fit.

Right-back Perry Ng and midfielder Alex Robertson also defied fitness concerns to play, with Robertson scoring a spectacular winning goal in added time.

"It's a very memorable day because of the scoreline, and the players put everything into the game," said Barry-Murphy.

"Even at 4-1 down we felt as if we could be dangerous if we could get the next goal. We understood the consequences if we didn't, but it ended up being a very special day for us.

"We had a lot of players who under normal circumstances wouldn't have played. Perry was playing on one leg in the first half, Krystian wasn't fit and really put himself in a position where he demanded to play because he knew the situation we would be faced with.

"Will Fish the same, Alex Robertson has some issues. So when you see players want to play for the team so much, it's almost a throwback to days gone by."

Cardiff have often dominated games without winning this season; frequently enjoying more possession, shots on target and other forms of statistical superiority over opponents - but not being able to turn those metrics into positive results.

They appeared set for that same fate on Saturday, only for their injury-hit players to mount a remarkable comeback to snatch the late victory their earlier control of the game had warranted.

"I think there's so much you could analyse in a game like that. We will, and we'll be here for days talking about what we can do better," said Barry-Murphy.

"I'm very grateful for the players' mentality and the attitude to keep going. We were backed by an incredible stadium today.

"It was difficult for everybody at 4-1 but once we got that second goal you could feel the energy from the stands and that was reciprocated on the pitch.

"The players poured forward and every time we attacked their goal we looked as if we could score and every time they broke on us they looked as if they could score.

"But I'd rather have it that way because it gets in line with the mentality of our support and the club to keep going for it."