MARTIN Taylor described last night's defeat as the biggest disappointment for almost two years.

But the Rovers defender believes manager Graeme Souness would rather have picked up the three league points against Manchester United in December than secure a second consecutive Worthington Cup final.

"That's the third game we've played against them now this season and, although we're not happy with the way we played, it's the first time we've lost and it's a bit of a sickener. All the lads are disappointed," he said.

"Over the last few seasons we haven't really faced a disappointment like that. We've had promotion and a cup final win so obviously losing in the semi-final is a bitter pill to swallow. But we know we gave it our best shot.

"We took confidence from the two previous games against them because we did do well, but we knew it was going to be a tough game.

"We got off to the best start we could get. It was a great ball from Tugay and Andy Cole's finish was superb. We carried on a bit from there but, when they scored, they got on top of their game."

The 23-year-old said it was an uphill battle in the second half to overturn United's 2-1 lead and maintain their unbeaten run against Alex Ferguson's men.

But, while Rovers battled, Taylor admitted United's third goal proved to be a bridge too far.

"When we came out in the second half we knew that getting another goal could change everything," he said.

"We needed to win to go through because of the away goals and we gave it our best shot in the second half. We pushed on but when they scored midway through the half it killed us a bit, but we still gave it a go.

"The league game against them seems a long time ago but I would think the manager would have settled for the three points in the league rather than winning last night.

"Now we need to pick ourselves up for Saturday, get the disappointment out of our heads and get on with it because we've got a good chance to qualify for the next round of the FA Cup against Sunderland."