'The first 45 at Old Trafford cost us'
TranscriptThe skipper felt United were in a perfect position before being reduced to 10 men...
“Yeah the boys are disappointed. We had to believe that we could come here, win the game and go through from the tie to the final. We got ourselves into a great position at half-time and we were 1-0 up. Don't get me wrong, we rode our luck at times in the first half and David was excellent. We wanted to stay in the game until the last 20 minutes and then we felt like we could put pressure on them, throw everything at them, but it was hard once we went down to 10 men.” “We knew that the first goal was crucial. We felt that if we got the first goal then we would go on to win the tie. That wasn't to be. We felt like the last 15 to 20 minutes, we could have put them under a lot of pressure, it would have been a nervous stadium and maybe we could have got something, or created more chances than we did. We obviously had the free-kick on the edge of the box, which was a great chance. We huffed and puffed, we worked tirelessly and we won the game on the night, but ultimately the first 45 minutes at Old Trafford has cost us the tie.” “It is tough to create chances here. They are a good side and they have proved it over the last five years now. At half-time we were in the perfect position. We wanted to stay in the game until the last 20 minutes when we knew we could create momentum and pressure, like we did at Anfield. It is hard enough to get the ball off them when it is 11 versus 11. We obviously lose Nemanja, who was excellent on the night, so there is no blame on him, but it was difficult when we went down to 10.” “We will definitely take the positives from the game. The dressing room at the moment is disappointed and a bit flat. It is a bit strange because we have won the game and done well on the night, but the first 45 minutes at Old Trafford has cost us the tie. We were arguably the better side in the second half at Old Trafford and then we have come to the Etihad. We knew it was an uphill task, we gave ourselves every chance in the second half but it just wasn't to be.” “Yeah it is really important. We have one last big push before the lads can put their feet up and have a little rest, which I do feel we need. I think you saw in the second half that we looked a bit tired in our pressing. It is one last big push, we need a big result against Wolves and we need to come out fighting to put on a good performance.”