"I either played them with a risk of them getting injured or field a side of youngsters.
"We knew it would be tough with the side we put out. In the end it was too much for them.
"The performance in the first half was not good enough. We allowed them too much possession and gifted them two goals.
"We know we rode our luck, but certainly I wanted a better performance.
"I never spoke to the owner (Mike Ashley) about the team selection. I have to protect the vulnerable ones in our squad.
"There is no doubt promotion is the biggest target this season.
"But I don't want to look upon the cup competitions as something we would be glad to be out of.
"We would prefer to be in the hat for the next round. If we had won the game tonight it would have given us a big lift ahead of Saturday's game."