IT WAS no surprise to hear Owen Coyle talking about Rovers having 15 ‘cup finals’ left to play after the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United.

They have to get back to the bread and butter and Burton Albion on Friday is a massive game – a bigger game than United.

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At the end of the day, even had they beaten United, realistically they’re not going to win the FA Cup.

The most important thing for Rovers is staying in the league which means Burton is the bigger game.

That is followed by three consecutive home games against Derby, Wigan and Cardiff, and I have spoken before about how important the results at Ewood will be.

The important thing is to take one game at a time, try and get a result at Burton and then win that game against Derby next Tuesday an get the fans right behind them.

I thought the performance was really good on Sunday.

I was impressed by what Rovers put in to the game, they worked really hard and played some good stuff. On the ball they looked like they had lots of ideas.

That should give them confidence that if they can carry a threat against one of the best teams in Europe, then they can cause problems against anyone.

They have to take the positives and as a manager, when you see your team putting in 100 per cent, which they did, that is all you can ask for.

If I am going to be critical then you could say they conceded two disappointing goals.

It was a bit worrying that both goals were from balls through the middle of the defence.

Then again, you don’t come up against players with the finishing qualities of Marcus Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimovic every week, or the ability on the ball of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba.

Rovers have been hampered by injuries all season and they really have to stay away from picking up any more.

They have such a small squad they need to get players back fit, not lose any more.

I’m sure Owen would have loved to have been able to select a settled side, but that’s not something he’s been able to do all season.

Players are fitter now than they ever have been, but the pace at which the game is played, and playing so many games in such a short space of time, means you’re always going to get injuries.

Jose Mourinho’s side are coming in to form at the right time, they have a big squad with players on the bench who can change a game and would get in to most Premier League teams, and that ultimately proved the difference on Sunday.

It was a brilliant weekend of FA Cup football. Some people say that it does not mean the same as it did, but you try and tell that to Lincoln after their win at Burnley.

It has still got that magic about it and the smaller teams can make great money from a good cup run.

Lincoln’s main ambition will be to get out of the National League, but if you can keep winning games, that will only add to their confidence.