Moyes tries to lift MU after Cup shock

Beleaguered Manchester United manager David Moyes vowed his side would soldier on after it was stunned 2-1 by Swansea City in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.

Moyes has already seen United fall 11 points off the pace in the Premier League and it has now lost successive home games for the second time this term, having lost 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

United visits Sunderland on Tuesday for the first leg of its League Cup semifinal and with the Champions League its only other viable source of silverware this season, Moyes says his players must keep looking forward.

"If you lose games at any club, it's always difficult. At Manchester United, it's even bigger," he told BT Sport.

"But that's the job. We will get on with it, we have got a big game coming up on Tuesday, and we will get the team ready for that."

Swansea prevailed thanks to a 90th-minute header from Wilfried Bony, after Wayne Routledge's 12th-minute lob was swiftly canceled out by United's Mexican striker, Javier Hernandez.

The balance of the tie tipped in Swansea's favor when acting United skipper Rio Ferdinand limped off in the 75th minute, and to compound matters for the host, his replacement, Fabio da Silva, was then sent off for a rash foul on Jose Canas.

Moyes said he had "no issues at all" with Fabio's dismissal, claiming referee Mike Dean "called it right".

With Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie sidelined by injury, United struggled to create clear-cut chances against Michael Laudrup's side and Moyes conceded his team had lacked a cutting edge.

"I think we played quite well at times in the first half," he said.

"We got near the edge of the box quite regularly, but we didn't either make the opportunity to score a goal or, when we did get a half-opportunity, take it. So that was the disappointing thing.

"We went a goal behind, we came back, and I thought for long periods we had good control of the game. But at the end of it, we didn't get a goal or we didn't make enough chances from it."

(China Daily 01/07/2014 page23)