Town boss Mick McCarthy was delighted with his second string side, despite their Capital One Cup third round tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford ending in a 3-0 defeat.

“Man United deserved to win, they dominated the first half,” McCarthy admitted. “Second half we started well, had our chances, didn’t score them. We gave a freekick away, cost us the second and it was probably a done deal then.”

But despite the result, he was pleased with his team, an entirely different XI to the one which drew with Birmingham on Friday including the likes of Jonny Parr and Kevin Bru on the way back from injury, recent signings Tommy Oar and Piotr Malarczyk, who are short of match fitness, and youngsters Josh Emmanuel and Josh Yorwerth.

“I’m delighted with them,” he continued. “It’s difficult when you come in and you’ve lost 3-0 and you’re saying ‘Well done lads, I’m pleased with you’.

“We’ve got Jonny Parr back playing, which I’m delighted with. All the back four, Josh Emmanuel, it’s a helluva learning curve for him.

“Kevin Bru’s back playing having missed a lot through injury. I thought Tommy Oar really did well in the game. So there were some real good pluses but we were beaten.

“I could have put any team out against that team and we’d probably still have been beaten. The bookies wouldn’t have been giving too many good odds on us whatever team we were playing.”

He says he was always going to stick with the players who had featured in the victories over Stevenage and Doncaster in the previous rounds.

“I said at Doncaster that I’d play the same team and then we were drawn with Manchester United and I said I might have to rethink it,” he added. “But that was never going to be the case, I was always going to play the same lads.

“I had to show faith in them as well, so when I do want them to play in the league that I’m not worried about playing them. I hope they get that feeling from that game.”

The Blues boss says he expected Louis van Gaal to pick a strong United team: “I didn’t expect him to tinker with it. They lost at the MK Dons last year through doing that. I think they need to win a trophy.

“I’d imagine a home tie against Ipswich, he wouldn’t want to see an upset to he made sure with a strong team.”

McCarthy says the performance and cup run has reinforced his view that he has strength in depth: “I know looking at them there are players I can play without any reservations at all.

“I knew that anyway but it’s added a few to it and I’m comfortable int he knowledge that I’ve got a strong squad going forward with the league games coming up.”

He says the likes of Oar and Malarczyk needed to play a match to get nearer to match fitness: “When do they get that game otherwise? I know it’s a big game and I know we’ve had loads of fans and they were brilliant and they were still brilliant at the end.

“I thought they saw a really good, spirited second half performance. But I’ve been to places like Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool with my best, full strength team and had a doing. I wanted to stick with the lads who got us here and they deserved to play.”

Regarding debutant Oar’s performance, he added: “Tommy’s only had one full competitive game since March and for him to come in and play at Old Trafford in the way he has done I’m really pleased with him, and his delivery from freekicks was excellent.

“We’ve got two outstanding wingers playing in the team, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Ryan Fraser, but neither of them are ours. So, I have got one and I’ve got high hopes for him. I’m delighted with him.”

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal said: "The result was great. We don’t have injuries. I brought in players, I rotated players. Phil Jones has played a lot of minutes. So I’m a happy coach."

Photo: Action Images

osborne added 23:09 - Sep 23 Well done Mick. Did the right thing and will benefit the lads who played. Sensible management. Roll on Saturday
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Pilgrimblue added 23:17 - Sep 23 Quite agree and good to see new playersa given a go
5

meekreech added 23:24 - Sep 23 Proud of the team , they gave a good account of themselves and show we now have strength in depth . Also have good youngsters coming through. Most of all we have a management team that can pick up and improve players .
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DazBent added 23:28 - Sep 23 Agreed Mick
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DurhamTownFan added 23:31 - Sep 23 Tell you what I'm not delighted with Mick, and that's spending £90 for me and my wife to watch us roll over. I GET that we were highly unlikely to win the game, but I'm increasingly fed up with our inability to keep the ball on the floor. Surely one of the most dangerous things to do against world class players is to give it straight back to them as soon as we get it? We're trying and working very hard to fight our way out of the division, but what is a footballer if he doesn't like having the ball, or asking for it, or showing an easy pass? I think I'm just annoyed that we lost, but I also believe that something needs to change a bit of we're ever gonna get promoted and take charge of games.

6

northernblues added 23:36 - Sep 23 I thought it was a shame, the first 15 mins of the second half we got at them, I didn't expect to win but we could of given them a real game if we played like for a bigger part of the game, still not bad for a second team!
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wkj added 00:01 - Sep 24 We all know MM doesn't like the Under 21 games very much for player development and I think playing the same team more or less that got them this far was a good choice for both confidence and trust in his team. This said... Bart belongs in goal for league games- He made lots of saves tonight that you can help but think Gerken would have messed up. This is the only thing I am critical of in MM. With Bart in goal, Bru fit, Oar getting up to match fitness - Bishop and Hyam also wrking on fitness- We have every chance with this squad of finally putting to bed a bunch of the demons that have haunted us for the last 15 years.

17

BLUETEL added 00:18 - Sep 24 Not being able to get a cheap return flight to Spain i had to make do with watching the game on tv .... I never saw a long ball game tonight as suggested by a few ..I did see a team in Red who had much quicker speed of thought on the ball and instant control which comes from playing in the Premier League in a 350m pound team. I did see both our full backs and wingers in advanced positions as often as they could ... Long clearances from defences to clear the danger in the Championship is the norm ...perhaps not so in the Prem .... Im amazed that 2 people can watch the same game and see a different game.

8

BluefromBristol added 00:18 - Sep 24 Well, despite the loss, I feel that our much changed side gave a great account of themselves and there are many positives to take from this game. I don't think anyone played particularly badly except maybe Coke in the first half. I thought our defence was solid, Emmanuel is a great prospect for the future. The two centre backs were organised, strong and commited as was Parr. Bru is a player with real class, he needs to start in the league as soon as possible. I thought Oar also did well. Overall I'm not complaining, we played well against a very strong Manchester Utd team. A word for the other fans as well - what support I thought everyone showed tonight. Constant singing and cheering (right through until the end) in what would have otherwise been a very very quiet Old Trafford.

12

gippeswyk added 00:52 - Sep 24 I don't like town fans down making people who paid good money and spent 10 hours travelling to see the match. I am on the coach now and won't get home until 5am. I don't share micks delight at how our players performed tonight. Yes it was a second string side and yes we were playing Man U at home. I wasn't expecting a win so I am not complaining that we lost 3-0. I did think our back 4 did well as did Bart. What worries me is that we never tested de gea once and the 4 strikers we all are so excited about couldn't get some decent efforts on target, again. It was the same against Birmingham and reading. We ground out a 1-0 at Leeds. We didn't play any second string strikers tonight's. It was murph, Didz, pitman and Sears. Maybe they're not getting the service from midfield but whatever the reason, I felt we were outplayed and outclassed today, we created virtually no threat with our paltry 30% possession and if our strikers don't start scoring or at least testing the keeper, we will struggle to keep pace with the top 6 let alone the top 2 in the championship this season.

5

wkj added 01:54 - Sep 24 So let me get this straight... you're not complaining about the scoreline... but you're complaining we didn't score?
0

bobble added 04:48 - Sep 24 At least the Wallabies won.....
0

battyblue added 05:39 - Sep 24 Quite impressed with back four well organized won lots of headed clearances and tried to pass the ball out unlike the normal Hoof from Chambers, Bart make some decent saves and an improvement on Gerken other + points Bru and Tommy Oar
8

reaper added 06:38 - Sep 24 Bluetel - it was actually a £205m team as Brenner repeated over and over and over again on the radio!
1

yorksblue added 07:48 - Sep 24 We certainly worked hard and never gave up. 3-0 flattered them. My only criticism is that we showed Rooney Mata and the Belgie with the birds nest on his head, too much respect and space. That Martial looks a real class act.
4

Stato added 07:56 - Sep 24 I think we made a lot of friends from last night and one of the many positives to come out of this game might be seen with future loan additions from the man u camp
4

VulpineBlue added 08:00 - Sep 24 A true irony that the opening goal came from man United 'hoofball'...
6

Bluetone added 08:25 - Sep 24 No mention of Bart by McCarthy in this report I wonder what that means for our next match. Really would like to see him back as first choice keeper.
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gorse added 08:35 - Sep 24 Can't help feeling MM being disingenuous about his reasons for playing the same lads, and I would be bitterly disappointed with zero on target after 90 minutes. Makes us look a joke and disrespectful to the effort put in. This is a football match not a defensive training exercise.
1

gorse added 08:42 - Sep 24 Not to mention a massive p*sstake for the fans who travelled for God knows how long on a coach or spent ~£200 on a train. This is why I didn't go, I knew MM would not play to win and I'll be f*cked if gf & I are spending that time and money when we could just go to watch them train. Massive respect to the fans that did and the efforts of the squad played though.
1

Guthrum added 09:02 - Sep 24 None "on target" maybe, but that doesn't mean we had no shots or chances to score. From the commentary it seemed we were getting forward whenever we were able.
2

rozeeboy added 09:34 - Sep 24 Jeez people. At no point did Mick actually say he was taking a 1st 11 to this match. This was the point that you make your choice on going or not. You knew the travel times and ticket prices (and that we would probably get beaten) so why complaining?
1

bluelodgeblue added 09:46 - Sep 24 Mick has a consistent track record certainly with Town by playing not full strength sides in this competition, some people take longer to learn than others I suppose?
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cromwellblue added 10:12 - Sep 24 I don't get this constant reference to "reserves" The team had Bart, Parr, Tabb, Bru, McGoldrick & Murphy. ALL of whom would/could be in our first team. We didn't play Kenlock, McDonnell etc.. who are the second string. Once again this forum is full of extremist views formed entirely around a scoreline.
3

Kesgraveblue57 added 10:18 - Sep 24 Putting the site again last night unfit players kids leaning their trade it's one hell of a result we now have a squad can only lead to better things
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