Great tie, shame we had to lose

A great pair of cup ties, and its a shame we had to lose. In the end the lack of a goal scorer told and an inability to put away chances cost us.

I can understand the manager rotating the squad around the last few games, and maybe he is thinking equally of the league game at the weekend but I cannot understand why Borini wasnt in the squad. For me he has been the most useful of our strikers. He has linked up well and only been a little bit short of bagging a couple of goals, that can come with math fitness though.

That said we look competitive again and its very pleasing to see. Chelsea fans can protest that they have 'bigger competitions on their minds' but it was plain to see from the selection and the play that there was no holding back in last nights match and we were equal to them.

The referee was poor though. As in the first leg how Costa escaped punishment is beyond me. He could have been sent off in either game and should have been last night. Skrtel yet again showed that inability to read a game properly diving in on Costa when he was going nowhere, which should have been a penalty (yes we all know Costa shouldnt have even been on the field at this point but still).

A tough game coming up at the weekend but I'm encouraged for the remainder of the season that we can put in a good account of ourselves. If Sturridge can stay fit I think we can put together another impressive winning streak on the run in.