Kieran McKenna highlighted “erratic” time-keeping in the Championship as Ipswich suffered stoppage-time despair with a 2-1 defeat at Cardiff.

Ipswich appeared to be heading back to second spot after Kieffer Moore’s fine finish against his old club 11 minutes from time.

But Ryan Wintle equalised in the fifth added minute and it got worse for Ipswich as Cardiff claimed a fourth successive win.

With eight minutes of stoppage time added, Callum O’Dowda volleyed home in the 10th extra minute played to leave Ipswich one point behind Leeds – 2-0 winners at Sheffield Wednesday on Friday.

Ipswich boss McKenna said: “I haven’t given any thought to the eight minutes, but it is inconsistent this year. It is erratic.

“There have been some games where I’ve thought there have been lots of stoppages and maybe you get plus-five. Other games there have been much less.

“I wouldn’t be able to guess what it is within a couple of minutes margin when the board is going to go up.

“I can’t say it was wrong today, but it has been inconsistent this season.

“But my focus is on my team and what we can control. We’ve been very good at seeing games out, today we weren’t.”

There was a lengthy stoppage at the start of the second half when Moore and Cardiff centre-back Dimitrios Goutas clashed heads.

Moore continued with his head bandaged and the former Cardiff striker scored his sixth goal since arriving on loan from Bournemouth in January.

Asked if defeat was a costly blow to Ipswich’s promotion bid, McKenna said: “Who knows? We’re not focusing on a promotion race.

“We’re just thinking about ourselves, our journey, the next game. We’re focusing on winning next week, and the next nine.

“If the game finishes after 90 minutes we’d be talking about a really strong away performance. But it doesn’t end there and, in the last 10 minutes, we didn’t do what we needed to.”

Cardiff’s win keeps them in the play-off hunt and provides a further boost before next week’s South Wales derby at Swansea.

“I say the same, we go game by game,” said Cardiff manager Erol Bulut, who confirmed Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey would be available after this month’s international break following a calf issue.

“Maybe this was the best. We have been really prepared and I never felt we were going to lose it.

“When you play well and concede, it’s not good, but how my players started, they finished the game.

“Confidence is very important. When you see a few weeks before, confidence was not good.”

Ipswich failed to reclaim second place in the Championship as Cardiff struck twice in stoppage time for a remarkable 2-1 victory.

Kieffer Moore seemed to have returned to haunt his former club 11 minutes from time and put Ipswich on the brink of collecting three precious points in the Welsh capital.

But Ryan Wintle punished slack marking in the fifth minute of stoppage time as Ipswich failed to deal with Rubin Colwill’s cross and Callum O’Dowda’s knockdown.

But that was not the end of the drama as five minutes later, and with virtually the last kick of the match, Perry Ng hooked the ball towards the far post at a chaotic corner and O’Dowda volleyed home.

The defeat leaves Ipswich a point behind Leeds, who had moved in to second spot after Friday’s win at Sheffield Wednesday and possess superior goal difference than the Tractor Boys.

Cardiff were high on confidence after three successive wins and their lively start reflected that.

David Turnbull’s rasping effort from distance was saved with some discomfort by Vaclav Hladky, and the Ipswich goalkeeper was again needed from the resulting corner to keep the Bluebirds at bay.

The ball fell to Josh Bowler at the far post and Hladaky kept out his volley with an outstretched foot.

Ng seemed certain to convert the rebound with the goal gaping, but his scuffed shot allowed Moore to clear off the line.

Karlan Grant set up Josh Wilson-Esbrand for an opening blocked by Luke Woolfenden’s intervention and Hladaky held on to Bowler’s drive at the second attempt.

Ipswich did not look like a side that had scored in 12 consecutive games, struggling to play through midfield and supply Moore with tempting crosses against his old club.

Moore had managed an early header collected with ease by Ethan Horvath – Ipswich’s solitary on-target effort in the opening period – while the towering target man flicked wide after Wes Burns had raided down the right.

Ipswich began to get a foothold in the contest as half-time approached, but Cardiff went close again as Grant wriggled free just outside the box and fired over.

There was a lengthy pause after the interval as Moore and Dimitrios Goutas clashed heads.

Moore came off worse and was only able to continue after being patched up with a couple of headbands.

Ipswich sent on Omari Hutchinson and Nathan Broadhead, fit again after a two-game injury lay-off, to find some fluency in the final quarter.

Cardiff goalkeeper Ethan Horvath had to react to bat away Hutchinson’s howitzer but he was left helpless after Harness spotted Moore.

Nat Phillips stood off Moore for the first time in the contest and the Wales striker took his opportunity, burying a left-footed shot across Horvath.

But there was a lethal sting in the tail and the late goals from Wintle and O’Dowda ensured Cardiff maintained their late bid for a play-off spot.

Under-pressure manager David Wagner felt Norwich’s 3-2 comeback win at Cardiff proved he has the full support of his dressing room.

The Canaries went into the contest in the Welsh capital having collected just one point from their previous six Championship outings.

But Ryan Wintle’s own goal and Adam Idah’s strike, Christian Fassnacht having netted in the first half, earned Norwich a dramatic victory after Josh Bowler and Callum Robinson had put the hosts in front.

“I think it’s a deserved win,” said Wagner. “We have some problems but how the players took it on board and reacted was just great to see.

“It was anything but a surprise for me. I love these players. I know we don’t have a problem in the dressing room, there’s a good togetherness.

“It shows how tight the dressing room is. They were desperate to turn it around and have this winning feeling back.

“We were on a negative run for quite a while, this is never enjoyable.

“But if you still feel the dressing room and everyone else at the club is behind you, you can stand in front of everyone and show the confidence everyone needs from a leader.

“Now hopefully with some players back after the international break, hopefully this is our turning point to continue to at least perform like we did today.”

Following what had been a fairly tame start to proceedings, Norwich stunned the home crowd as Fassnacht tapped home from Kenny McLean’s flick-on to put his side in front with his third goal of the campaign.

But Bowler and Robinson netted before half-time to ensure the Bluebirds led at the break.

Wintle deflected in Fassnacht’s cross eight minutes from time and substitute Idah coolly slotted home from close range just two minutes later as the Canaries won for only the second time in 11 matches in all competitions while bringing an end to Cardiff’s three-game unbeaten run in the process.

Bluebirds boss Erol Bulut was left furious with his side’s set-piece defending.

“You can lose the game but not how we lost it in the last 25 minutes. This makes me angry,” he said.

“We didn’t fight, we didn’t concentrate, we lost balls too quickly and we knew exactly what they would do. Some players were not concentrating enough.

“We trained for it (set-pieces). We showed the team how Norwich are doing their corner kicks, at the front post, and they scored the first goal from the front post.

“And at the far post we conceded. The second goal was the same. Two easy goals.”

He added: “Also, our substitution players didn’t really help us. In previous weeks that was different, they brought us points.

“That was also the key to how we lost the game 3-2.”

Norwich struck twice late on to come from behind and beat Cardiff 3-2 to ease the pressure on under-fire boss David Wagner.

The Canaries silenced the Cardiff City Stadium crowd as Christian Fassnacht poked home his third goal of the campaign in the 22nd minute.

Cardiff responded well and saw Josh Bowler equalise in the 39th minute before Callum Robinson headed them in front on 43 minutes.

But Ryan Wintle’s own goal made it 2-2 in the 82nd minute before Adam Idah slotted home two minutes later as Norwich ended their six-game winless run in dramatic fashion.

Defeat was Cardiff’s first on home soil since early August and brought an end to their three-match unbeaten sequence.

Robinson and Norwich’s Gabriel Sara had decent efforts early on in what was a fairly uneventful opening period, although the excitement levels improved as the first half progressed.

Norwich tested Jak Alnwick for the first time after a slick move that led to Hwang Ui-jo teeing up Sara whose drilled effort was palmed away by the Cardiff goalkeeper.

But Alnwick was helpless from the resulting corner as Kenny McLean’s headed flick-on found Fassnacht unmarked at the back post to tap home.

Cardiff swiftly set about searching for a leveller and boss Erol Bulut was left incensed before the half-hour mark after referee Rebecca Welch failed to award his side a penalty after Bowler went down under a challenge from Przemyslaw Placheta.

Moments after Bowler drilled at Norwich goalkeeper George Long from an acute angle, Poland international Placheta crossed to Hwang, although the South Korean was unable to adjust in time as the ball struck his leg before flying wide.

Cardiff continued to probe at the other end, with captain Joe Ralls firing just wide from the edge of the box.

But the Bluebirds equalised six minutes before the break as Robinson fended off two defenders before crossing to Bowler, who lashed home his second goal of the campaign.

They went in front just four minutes later as Karlan Grant teed up Collins whose lofted cross was inch-perfect for Robinson to nod beyond Long from close range.

Mark McGuinness threw himself in front of Fassnacht’s strike shortly after the restart before Grant was denied by Long at the other end after being played through on goal by Robinson.

Alnwick then had to be alert to keep out Jonathan Rowe’s low driven strike before palming away Danny Batth’s header as Norwich pushed for an equaliser.

They made it 2-2 as Fassnacht drilled across goal, with the ball deflecting off Wintle.

Then after Rowe’s placed shot was saved, Idah netted the winner six minutes from time to spark wild scenes of celebration in the away end and relieve the pressure on Wagner in the process.

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.”

Cardiff manager Erol Bulut was delighted with his team’s 3-1 victory over Birmingham – and hopes he can bolster his defence before Friday’s transfer deadline.

The Bluebirds boss watched as his side scored through Rubin Colwill, Ryan Wintle and Zion Etete and saw Blues’ Lukas Jutkiewicz sent off midway through the second half.

They did so having made 10 changes to the side which beat Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend – and with a makeshift defence as Ebou Adams lined up alongside Perry Ng and full-back Mahlon Romeo.

“I am delighted because today we played without centre-backs, we created a back three with midfielders,” said Bulut.

“After the opponent was with 10 players we get a little bit relaxed and thought the game was finished. It is not finished, sometimes against 10 players it is more difficult.

“We need centre-backs, today we tried to create centre-backs. I hope at least one, maybe two centre-backs.

“I cannot see anything, wait until Friday then we will see some surprises – I hope.”

Blues counterpart John Eustace felt Jutkiewicz’s dismissal was the turning point.

“I thought it was very harsh from where I was, Jukey was pushed over at the start, he was rolling over then he has turned to try and get the ball and he has caught the lad on the back of the legs,” he said.

“It is a hard red card, it is something we will have to look at and see if we can appeal it. I will have to have a good look again tonight.

“I felt the first 20 minutes caused us a lot of problems, their shape, we couldn’t get used to that. The early goal certainly helps them as well.

“I thought we grew into the game, we got to grips with their shape, we were better with their press, were higher up the pitch. We need to be better in that final third with the decision-making.

“Coming into half-time we were positive, we tweaked a couple of things and I thought we started the second half quite well then obviously the red card just changes the game.”