Cardiff Blues' Adam Powell collected the man of the match honour © Getty Images

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Matches: Cardiff Blues 37 - 24 Gloucester Rugby

Teams: Cardiff Blues | England | Gloucester Rugby | Wales

Gloucester boss Dean Ryan accepts his team face "a big task" to reach the Heineken Cup quarter-finals following their 37-24 Millennium Stadium defeat against Cardiff Blues.

And Gloucester's pain did not end with a four-try loss either. Fly-half Ryan Lamb (hip), full-back Olly Morgan (hamstring) and England number eight Luke Narraway (hamstring) all limped out of the contest as Blues triumphed.

Gloucester, Heineken quarter-finalists last season, are now unlikely to repeat that feat unless they win their four remaining Pool Six games, which includes a trip to Biarritz in January. Ryan said: "It will be a big task now. This has put us on the back foot, and we will have to do something special at Kingsholm.

"I am disappointed we didn't win the game. I thought we had a lot of control, and I thought we looked very threatening. But the injuries were very disruptive, especially losing Ryan and Olly when we did (either side of half-time).

"I think it meant about five players changing positions, and we never looked the same back-line after the injuries. We are two games into the tournament, and Cardiff have still got to come to Kingsholm and play Biarritz back-to-back in December."

Blues' 19-year-old wing Leigh Halfpenny scored two tries, while wing Gareth Thomas and fly-half Nicky Robinson also touched down, but full-back Ben Blair's goalkicking - 17 points from seven shots - ultimately made the difference. Gloucester led 17-13 just before half-time, but they then conceded two converted tries in three minutes and never seriously recovered.

Morgan and wing Iain Balshaw (two) claimed Gloucester's tries, but Blues' record Heineken Cup crowd of 27,000 was not to be denied a home win.

Blues head coach David Young said: "We weathered a few storms out there. There were big parts of the game when it could have gone either way. We have four pool fixtures left, and we've got to win three of those - that has to be our focus.

"We are pleased to be where we are, but I know there are some hard games to come. We have given ourselves a good start - but that's all it is."

Young also hailed a superb man-of-the-match display from number Andrew Powell, whose performance might thrust him into autumn Test contention. Wales coach Warren Gatland names his squad on Tuesday for appointments with South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and a back-row vacancy has arisen after Ospreys flanker Jonathan Thomas underwent groin surgery on Friday.

Young added: "That's probably the best we've seen from Andy for two or three seasons. He has been plagued by injuries, but he has always been a special athlete, and he really stood up for us today. I've not seen many better performances."