Tom Croft praised the battling spirit of 13-man Leicester Tigers as they booked a place in the Heineken Cup final following a nerve-shredding penalty shoot-out at the Millennium Stadium.

In a game of immense drama, Tigers overcame the loss of Craig Newby and captain Geordan Murphy to the sin-bin and a stunning late fightback by Cardiff to book their place in a fifth Heineken Cup final.

England international Croft, the Sky TV man-of-the-match, said the victory on penalty kicks was down to the character of the squad.

Croft, the loose-forward and sometime lock, added: "I think we have shown it quite a few times as a team that, when we have our backs to the wall, like when Whitey (Julian White) went off against Sale near the start of the game, we rise to the challenge.

"It's testament to the character we have in the team that when the chips are down we can front up and keep teams out.

"I think for all the players in the squad, if you are on that pitch and you have your backs against the wall, our natural instinct is to keep on playing and to play for each other.

"It is that sort of mentality that you can't coach and is something that is within the squad."

Croft also praised opponents Cardiff after their late tries from Jamie Roberts and Tom James which cancelled out Tigers' scores by Scott Hamilton and Murphy and sent the game into extra-time.

With no further scores in the extra period, the game was settled by a penalty shoot-out. No8 Jordan Crane landed the winning kick, and his teammate Croft admitted it was a cruel way to decide such a pulsating game.

"Cardiff are a class team and have proved it throughout the season," said Croft said. "They were undefeated in the Heineken Cup up to this point.

"I don't think any team wants to win in that way. Both teams played exceptionally well – it was a real spectacle."