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"It was a good game, a very good game, and we matched them for an hour and a half," said McFarland after the game. "It was very exciting, end to end, and we defended resolutely when we had to, we challenged and competed for every ball.
"I’m proud of them, really proud of them, they have given our supporters something to cheer about even though we lost the tie.
"It’s a big disappointment for the Football Club to go out of the Carling Cup but in terms of what we’re trying to do here it’s a step in the right direction. We can feel proud of ourselves, holding a First Division team for an hour and a half and creating chances of our own."
He admitted to being somewhat disappointed at the failure rate from the penalties but added, "To miss three out of five is not a good average. It’s a little bit unreal, you get players going up there who don’t normally want to take a penalty and they are under a lot of pressure."
Stan was looking not just to get through but to find some form after the disappointment of the Palace game.
"I thought we played very well, we defended well and withstood a lot of stuff coming into the box and I thought we deserved it. We played for two hours and kept a clean sheet and that is encouraging.
"We’re close to being excellent and close to being rubbish so I really need to bring someone in to stiffen things up."
"I don’t know how we didn’t score in open play, we had a million chances but if we keep creating these chances then sooner or later they will start going in.
"We tried to walk it in at times but we kept a clean sheet, played some nice stuff, passed the ball quite well and if I can strengthen the side then we’ll be OK."