Cardiff City boss Erol Bulut has spoken for the first time about his side's failed bid to sign striker Kieffer Moore - revealing his players even tried to help recruit the 6ft 5ins hitman.

Welsh international Moore signed on loan for Ipswich Town from Premier League Bournemouth on deadline day, but Cardiff were one of a number of Championship sides also interested in him. 

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"We tried a lot," Bulut revealed to Wales Online. "I know from the board they pushed really hard to get him. His decision was to be with Ipswich, we cannot change it and we have to respect it.

"I tried hard. The players tried hard, because we had many talks with him. The board tried hard, but in the end it was the decision of the player.

East Anglian Daily Times: Kieffer Moore has scored three goals in his first three games for TownKieffer Moore has scored three goals in his first three games for Town (Image: Ross Halls)
"He decided to be with Ipswich, I don’t know, maybe he gets some extra things there, so he decided to go there.

"So then we have to look for other players. We knew we had to wait until the end of the window to get him.

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"But I also wanted another striker before, so that’s why we got Fam (Diedhiou). That’s why we made the transfer.

"We tried at the last moment to get Kieffer, but we didn’t have enough time in the end.

"And also there were the limits, which was a problem for me. So we managed to fix everything in the last three days. It’s not easy."