Liam Belcher admits Cardiff must go back to the drawing board following a disappointing defeat to the Ospreys on New Year’s Day.

The Blue & Blacks salvaged a bonus-point in Bridgend as Josh Adams completed his brace, following his first-half score, and Taulupe Faletau and Javan Sebastian also crossed.

But the final flurry was too little, too late, in what was a comfortable victory for the Ospreys. 

Pinpointing where the game was lost, a disappointed Belcher said: “Probably that 20 minutes after half time, they scored two or three tries and it’s hard to come back from here. 

“We have to look at ourselves. We’ve got three days off now. We’ll come back to the drawing board on Monday.

“As players, these are the games you want to play in. It is hard, there’s fatigue but it’s the same for them as well. As a player you wouldn’t want anything different, if you’ve got an opportunity to start three derbies, you play three derbies.”

Cardiff were down and out at 70 minutes but three tries in the space of six minutes ensured they did not leave the Brewery Field empty-handed.

While the result was undoubtedly disappointing, Belcher hopes the try-scoring bonus-point will prove crucial at the end of the season.

Cardiff remain second in the BKT United Rugby Championship table but could fall out of the top four if results go against them this weekend.

Belcher added: “The boys who came on brought a lot of impact and obviously that got us the bonus-point. Hopefully by the end of the season, that comes in handy. 

“On the overall look of it, it (the table) does look good but we’ll concentrate on what happened today, come to Monday go through the conversations and hopefully put a better plan in place.”