AS I walked to the ground, listening to all these Irish accents talking about their ‘beloved United’, I couldn’t help but keep pinching myself that it was my beloved Stoke who they would be playing against.

We conceded at the wrong times. We coped all right after the nightmare start, but seemed like rabbits in headlights at times, squandering possession needlessly.

The Carrick goal killed the game as a contest and, to be honest, it was one of our worst performances of the season.

If you want to get a bad performance out of your system though, the best place to do it is probably at Old Trafford.

The next two home games are simply massive. We need to obtain a minimum of four points from them.

With Ricardo Fuller suspended, perhaps Dave Kitson will finally get off the mark next weekend. A winner would be an ideal way to do it!

Finally, we couldn’t have asked for more from the Carling Cup balls. A home tie against Derby is superb and we should be looking to progress to the semi-finals.
JAMES KNOWLES, Eccleshall

IT was very obvious at Old Trafford that the gap between us and the top six of the Premier League is huge.

I don’t think many Stokies, if they were honest, thought we would get much out of this game, but to 5-0 was a bit of a shock to the system.

We competed well in the first half until their second goal, when we lost our way and gave them too much respect.

Old Trafford is enormous and there were very few empty seats, but it was not worth the price tag of £50 a seat, which is what they charged the away fans.

For all of the stylish facilities, the support of the Man United fans was rubbish and I can’t recall their fans singing (maybe they don’t know any songs) or chanting.

Not the best of experiences at Old Trafford and I’m glad this one is over. Back to reality next week – bring on the Baggies!

SUE BRYAN, Meir Park