Ole reacts to FA Cup quarter-final exit to Foxes

The Emirates FA Cup quarter-final defeat means it is the Foxes who progress to meet Southampton in the last four, thanks to goals from Kelechi Iheanacho (2) and Youri Tielemans. Mason Greenwood replied for United in the first half.

After the game, the boss spoke to club media and journalists at his press conference...

LACKING IN ENERGY
"Of course, we’re disappointed we’re out but probably it’s just the sum of all the factors and all the games we’ve played lately, all the injuries. I don’t want to make excuses but I try to find an explanation and an explanation is we had a few players coming back who have not really trained a lot. They’ve not played for a while and there are others who have played a lot but lacked a little zip and energy that we normally see. We conceded easy goals we don’t normally concede and it’s difficult against a good team like Leicester."

A WELL-WORKED GOAL BY MASON
"A top goal and great to see Mason having that instinct again. It was a good finish and good by Paul, Donny creates the goal without even touching it. It was clever and something to build on. There were positive moments as well and it’s great to see Paul and Donny back on the pitch and Edi back and Anto completed 90 minutes. It means a lot for the next two months."

SHOULD DONNY AND PAUL HAVE STARTED?
"I would have started the same team again. We felt they had more than 45 minutes in them, they’re important players for us. That’s why we started them."

BAD GOALS TO CONCEDE
"That’s, as I say, all the games we’ve got. Normally we don’t get one-two’d. We get back and get a tackle in normally but we don’t have that zip. Without making excuses for the boys, that’s the explanation. We found our levels, not our sharpness tonight. Sometimes the Thursday nights in Europe, they catch up with you."

FOUR SUBS AT THE SAME TIME
"We picked a team that we felt would win the game or give us a foundation to win the game. We knew players like Donny and Paul wouldn’t last more than an hour-ish and we knew we had subs who could come on and make a difference if we needed them to. That was the hope when we made the subs - that they could come on and give us that extra energy and brightness. We weren’t really as sharp as we have been lately. The accumulation of games, as I said, is a factor maybe and the freshness of Leicester, of course, has made them sharper than us today."

INJURIES HAVE HURT US
"I think we’re building a squad that can cope with it, but we’ve had six or seven injuries at the same point, in the same positions to be fair, and that’s made some players play a lot. That’s something we have to get used to. If and when we are to be successful, we have to handle this and of course hit a higher level than what we did today. That’s what we’re striving towards. I’ve been impressed, under these circumstances, which are unprecedented. I don’t think anyone in the world, or in England, has experienced these times before and I’ve been impressed by my boys. They’ve been excellent and the run we’ve been on has been excellent. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t find our normal selves tonight and sometimes that happens."

INTERNATIONAL BREAK - WHAT'S NEXT?
"A change of scenery. Some go away with the national team-mates and some stay here and train. They’ve been at Carrington every single day, working together and training together every single day. So a change of scenery will do some of them good. They’ll come back for Easter Sunday [at home to Brighton & Hove Albion] and be ready to go again."