Smalling: We Need A Response

Chris Smalling has called for Manchester United to respond to the club's disappointing Capital One Cup exit with a positive league performance at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Reds defender insisted he and his team-mates must bounce back after suffering a 3-1 penalty shoot-out defeat to Middlesbrough, while across town, Palace were also dumped out of the competition at the Etihad Stadium in a 5-1 defeat by Manchester City.

"Everyone’s very flat in the dressing room," Smalling admitted to MUTV. "I think we put in our all for the entire 120 minutes and I think as the game got on we got stronger. We had quite a lot of chances but it just didn't break our way today.

"I think we’ll take the disappointment tonight but tomorrow we need to turn our attentions immediately to Saturday, because it’s another big game, an away game, and we need a response from tonight."

The England international was frustrated as the Reds failed to score in two hours of play at Old Trafford, as a host of potential openings went begging. Smalling felt he and his team-mates should have coped better with the challenge of breaking down the stubborn visitors from the Championship.

"Sometimes it can be easy playing games against teams in your own league because the game can be more open," the centre-back said. "But we had to take that challenge on because we're the bigger team and they're going to come here and be more defensive.

"It's our job to break them down and we couldn't do it in normal or extra time, and when you get to penalties it's anyone's luck."