Erol Bulut praised the progress of his Cardiff side despite being held to a goalless draw by Stoke.
The visiting Bluebirds dropped out of the Championship play-off fray after a frustrating afternoon in the Potteries.
Callum Robinson came the closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half as his deflected cutback ricocheted off the post.
And Ryan Wintle, who scored in the same fixture last season, nearly notched a late winner but was denied by Jack Bonham.
However, Cardiff still extended their unbeaten run to three games thanks to a third successive clean sheet, much to the pleasure of Bulut.
“I’m really happy with my players, they’ve made big progress,” said the Cardiff boss.
“It’s not easy for many players here when we remember the last two years with what’s happened and how we started pre-season and the first games.
“It’s not easy to change everything in a positive way. Right now we’ve done it but we need to continue in that way and keep believing in our target.
“We knew that it was going to be a tight game because Stoke have had three great wins against great teams.
“In the first half, we weren’t like what I expect from my team. The second half was so much better and in the end I’m happy with a point.
“We have to look forward and it’ll be good for us to keep our run of clean sheets.
“We had more shots on the goal and we were closer to scoring a goal than Stoke. We had enough chances to score but, in the end, we didn’t.
“Second half, we were much better in our offensive shape but the last pass was not good enough.
“We pressed them higher and got more chances in the second half. If we started like that, maybe the result would have been different.”
Despite three successive wins prior to the tie, Stoke were limited to a solitary shot on target.
However, boss Alex Neil was still encouraged as his resurgent side kept a third consecutive clean sheet of their own.
“A point was probably a fair result but obviously we wanted to win it,” said Neil.
“We played extremely well in the past three games and all our chances today came in the first half.
“We had two or three really good chances to score but unfortunately didn’t take any.
“If we take a chance then it becomes a different game, but then in the second half we played ourselves into trouble when we were trying to play.
“We were wasteful with the ball more than what we’ve been, and that’s the biggest thing I’ll take from the game.
“I put five different players on the pitch to try and influence the game and give us the impetus in the match, but they’re not an easy team to play against.
“The lads are despondent and disappointed but I’m happy with that return [of 10 points from four games].
“That’s the type of game last year that we’d have lost, where we didn’t take our opportunities and then it turns and we end up losing the game.
“If you can’t win, don’t lose. They didn’t deserve to win based on our chances in the first half and we didn’t deserve to win based on our second half.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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