Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leapt to Bruno Fernandes’ defence, saying he isn’t solely to blame for Manchester United crashing out of the Carabao Cup.

“It’s not just about Bruno not finding inspiration,” Solskjaer said. “It’s about the whole team creating chances and when you play against good teams.

“We had some moments in the first-half on the break, second-half it was more about pressure but we didn’t create big chances. Anthony had a couple of half-decent ones but we just didn’t have enough in the last pass or last finish.

“I felt first-half we defended really well, they posed us some problems but we kept them away from our goal quite well. They had one shot that hit the post, we had one shot with the save from the keeper from Bruno.”

Former captain Roy Keane had spoken out about Fernandes shortly after the final whistle and explained why he shouldn’t be compared to Eric Cantona.

Fernandes made a big impression after joining from Sporting Lisbon last year, with 27 goals and 17 assists overall, and his impact has been likened by former United players to that of Cantona who helped end their 26-year wait for a league title in 1993.

“It’s not easy winning football trophies. Fernandes has had praise for the last few months and people have been comparing him to Cantona. He didn’t really do much tonight,” Keane said.

“The top players turn up in the big occasions. And that’s what the Cantonas used to do — they got their hands on trophies. That’s where this team are a little bit short.”

United have now lost at the semi-final stage in their last four Cup campaigns and Keane said that they needed fresh blood to take the next step.

“They probably need one or two more players to come into this squad, no doubt, and they need the mentality and confidence of winning a semi-final to get them over the line,” he added.

“You then get momentum and they just didn’t quite have it (against City).”