Fergie admits carelessness

Roberto Mancini: "I am disappointed with the result but I am very happy with my players for their performance. We defended very well in the second half, they did not have a chance and we scored two goals. It is not easy to play with 10 players against United. After the way we played and the character we showed I think we can win the league now. To play like that against a team like United with only 10 players is very good."

Alex Ferguson: "It was a careless performance by us. We made mistakes in the second half and they punished us. That's what can happen if you make mistakes. We set up to hit them on the break and that's what we were able to do with the three goals. The sending-off changed the game but I thought it was the correct decision. He's gone in two-footed. The problem was being 3-0 up at half-time the players thought they were through and took their foot off the pedal."

Gary Megson: "We are all pleased when we get a result, and we all suffer as one when we don't. This is a good afternoon for us, but another game at Hillsborough when we don't lose. We don't think so much about the opposition, we just want to keep the run going for as long as we can. We are a League One side, because that's where we play our football. But it's still Sheffield Wednesday. This place has had a 15-year nightmare and we're trying to get the momentum to get it back so these games are normal."

Sam Allardyce: "We did everything right apart from not finishing our chances and making a basic error that cost us the tie. The changes we made weren't the problem. The problem was not finishing the chances we had, the biggest one being the penalty. After a long delay we lost our concentration and there's a nothing shot that the keeper should have done better with. We're now out of the cup."

Assistant manager Roberto di Matteo: "Portsmouth made it very hard, especially in the first 45 minutes, and it is always difficult to break an opponent down and find a space with so many players. It was just a matter of scoring the first goal and we were always confident we were going to be able to do that. I don't think we ever said we wouldn't play a strong team so it wasn't really a surprise. It is a competition we would like to win and today we have gone a step further towards the target."

Michael Appleton: "Conceding after two or three minutes of the second half does not help matters, especially after a good first-half performance. I thought we got back into the game and you could sense their was a bit of nervousness before the end when they got their second goal. I think [the performance] was a credit to the boys but that is why Chelsea are where they are and we're a Championship club."

Darren Ferguson: "I know (James McClean) well. We had him here. I spoke to him, met him and I thought we had the deal done, but unfortunately Sunderland came in at the last minute. He is some player. We watched him many times in Ireland but a big club like Sunderland came in and that was his choice. I think he will go on to be a really good player. We were just a bit unfortunate not to get him."

Martin O'Neill: "I thought that in the first half we allowed Peterborough to play in their own half and when they ventured into ours we closed down. In the second half we closed down closer to their goal and became more effective. That's (McClean's) third game now and he's just been magnificent. His ability, his willingness to work back and his all-round game you would think he had played 103 games not three games."