Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom was desperate to secure promotion to the Premier League after their 3-0 FA Cup semi final loss against Manchester City.
The Blades held their own throughout the vast majority of the tie and had every right to be proud of their performance, as City's class and United's individual errors was the difference between the sides on the day.
Heckingbottom spoke about the importance of the game as a learning curve for his side, Iliman Ndiaye's early chance, Daniel Jebbison and his team's promotions hopes after the game.
-
On The Blades' performance
United were holding City well until right at the end of the first half, when Bernardo Silva was brought down in the box by Jebbison and a spot kick was awarded.
Riyad Mahrez, who went on to score a hat-trick, converted the penalty, and that left The Blades with a mountain to climb.
Despite early chances, namely through Ndiaye in the opening stages of the game, Sheffield United never offered enough to score and in the end it was comfortable for The Citizens.
Heckingbottom said it will be a vital experience for his players should they go on to be promoted back into the Premier League.
"[On whether pride is his main feeling after the game] Not right now it's not, there's a lot of frustration there.
"What did I see? I saw a team that went right to the end as we'd expect, as we'd want to be.
"I just can't get away from that we gave City the first two goals, that's the frustration, but there's big lessons from that game.
"If we get the points we want on Wednesday night and get where we want to be, that's the benchmark.
"We need to be better in how we prepare and play, and how we execute it, we didn't score when we had the first two moments of the game which is critical against the best.
"We knew we'd have to be disciplined when we didn't have the ball and moments where we'd have to suffer, but within that we knew we'd have an element of control which we did.
"To concede a penalty when we did is poor from our part, and the second goal is probably the most frustrating because it's an uphill battle then.
"I think we had four attempts on goal, we normally have five times as much as that.
"We've not really performed any differently, we've just had less opportunities but that's why we have to do better, because that's the benchmark, if we get the points we want, that's what we're up against.
-
On promotion
It has been a great season for Sheffield United so far, and they know that on Wednesday night, they can secure promotion back to the top-flight with a win at home against West Brom.
Throughout the tie, the Sheffield United fans could be heard chanting 'The Blades are going up', but Heckingbottom was keen to stress that the job is not done yet.
He also made it clear that his team would need to improve should they want to hold their own playing against sides like Man City, and not become a side praised purely for their efforts.
"[Pep Guardiola said at full time] 'See you next season', but we're not there yet and we know we're not, but I hope he's right.
"We've got ourselves in a position where we know what we need to do, four games left, but do you know what, I love that I've seen the fans out here today, we saw them before we came, during the game, at the end of the game.
"I'm determined and really focused on us doing this at home and Bramall Lane, because as much as I want promotion, it's not just for me, it's for everyone connected to the club, so we're going to fight for the three points we need and hopefully we can celebrate together.
"That would make the cup run feel better as well for me.
"We want to win, you know, we get the three points that we need and we're in the Premier League, and for how well we've played, we've taken no points from that if that's the Premier League.
"I look back at the games against City in the Premier League and they were very similar, fine margins, lots of discipline on the ball and not giving too many chances away, but zero points.
"So, we don't want to become one of them teams that get a pat on the back with people saying 'you did well today' but with no points."
-
On Iliman Ndiaye's early miss
The game had barely started when The Blades were presented with their biggest opportunity of the game.
The first corner of the tie was flicked on to the back post, with Ndiaye poised and ready to slot home.
Of all the players United fans would have wanted it to fall to, it was likely him, yet, when given the chance, he fired straight at Stefan Ortega.
Heckingbottom said his side had set up to make the most of set pieces, perhaps making the miss even more gutting for Ndiaye, who has had a superb season.
"We changed how we wanted to play slightly, we were a lot more direct from dead balls and then looked to play after that which allowed us to get in and around City's box when we did make passes.
"We also thought set plays would be big, and it was the first one, so we wanted to make more of those opportunities, and the only way of doing that or by setting the game up is by taking those opportunities."
The youngster was a surprise inclusion in United's starting 11, taking the place of striker Oli McBurnie, who has been influential in The Blades successful season.
Deployed in the hopes that he would create an attacking threat, Jebbision ended up having the opposite impact, when he gave away a needless penalty so close to the interval with the score goalless.
The penalty gave Mahrez his first of three goals on the day, and allowed the Algerian extra space and time to attack with The Blades searching for a response to going behind.
Heckingbottom said that whilst the 19-year-old was disappointed, he will take a lot away from the day itself for the future.
"It's a lesson, we know the margins are so fine, he might be an attacker but everyone's got a role, we attack together and we defend together.
"He's down, but we're in a position, probably similar to City, where games come thick and fast, and in three days' time its back to the day job, and we have to be ready to go.
