The Finn failed to hold on to John Utaka's 37th-minute cross and Kanu was on hand to punish the mistake, firing in from close range.

It proved to be enough to hand the Premier League side a first FA Cup triumph in 69 years, ensuring the Bluebirds' fairytale run to their first final since 1927 ended in disappointment.

Enckelman admitted he could have "dealt with it better" but insisted his conscience remained clear.

"It's not going to be hounding me," he said. "Conditions were wet first half, there was a bit of rain.

"I am not going to make excuses but it was a new ball, I should probably have dealt with it better but on another day it might have bounced somewhere else and the defender clears it.

"But, as it was, it came straight to Kanu and he tapped it in."

Enckelman, on loan from Blackburn, is best known for his howler in a Birmingham derby when at Aston Villa.

Somehow, he allowed Olof Mellberg's throw-in to roll under his foot and into the Villa goal in a fiercely-contested clash with the Blues in September 2002.

He has since admitted to being "distraught" after that mistake, but revealed he had no such feelings this time around, adding he had "nothing to worry about".

"Everybody probably remembers me for the throw-in incident," he said.

"At that time it did shake me but this time it didn't affect me.

"I probably should have done better but it's gone now, it's nothing to worry about."

Asked if he expected to receive any criticism, he defiantly replied: "There were no harsh words being said (in the dressing room), it's just one of those things in football.

"I was obviously disappointed we went 1-0 down but I thought we could get back into the game and everyone at half-time thought this was a very winnable game and obviously that was the mentality from us all the way until the end."

He added: "If you start apologising then you start thinking should one of the attacking players have played a better final ball in or finished it off better? So there's no apologies.

"As a team even the manager said we have reason to be proud. We gave them a good game, we didn't look like we were a league below them.

"We dominated parts of the game, we just couldn't score."

It was a disappointing end to the season for the Bluebirds, who finished 12th in the Championship, and were bidding to become the first team outside of the top flight to lift the trophy since West Ham in 1980.

Enckelman admitted he remains unsure whether Saturday's game will have been his last in a Cardiff jersey.

"I'm not going to think about it today or tomorrow, I will think about it next week," he added.

"Cardiff have been in touch with my agent but I have not been bothering him at all as I've wanted to focus on my football the last month or two."

However, the Bluebirds' aspirations for next season look set to receive a boost after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink revealed he is "99.9%" certain he will remain at Ninian Park next season.