The Welshman rued a missed chance by Elliot Lee just before half-time that would have levelled the tie at 1-1, and he said: “There are still elements of naivety because they’ve got real Championship quality and David McGoldrick has been one hell of a player for a good while.

“That was the difference really – two bits of quality from him won them the game. I don’t think we deserved to concede the second goal, but we have to eradicate that.

“As far as performance wise and how we went about our work, I’m very proud of them – they worked tirelessly, moved the ball really well and to be honest, we had the best chances in the first half.

“Elliot Lee’s missed an absolute glorious opportunity to send us in level and we were making all the running and they were just trying to pick us off on the counter attack. I was very pleased.

“We acquitted ourselves really well and it was a really evenly contested game, so I’m very proud of them today.”