Town boss Kieran McKenna felt his side’s performance was mixed as they were beaten 1-0 by Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground to exit the FA Cup at the fourth round stage, believing that the key period of the match came around the 20-minute mark.

Josh Windass’s 34th minute goal proved decisive against a much-changed Blues team, McKenna having made 10 changes from the XI which beat Derby County 2-1 at Pride Park in the Championship last weekend.

“Of course, we’re disappointed with the result,” McKenna said. “I thought the performance was mixed.

“I thought we started the game well, were the better team at the start of the game, had some good looks at the goal.

“Lost momentum probably about halfway into the first half when they had a run of set plays one after the other and got some good momentum up, and we weren’t able to quite withstand that or wrestle it back for the rest of the first half and they got their goal in that period.

“I thought in the second half we came out strong again and pushed for the equaliser and we pushed right to the end of the game, but it’s not easy to break them down at that stage. They defend their box well and we were close but we weren’t quite able to get over the line.

“I think the general performance across was mixed for different reasons, we were also playing against a good side.

“It was a tight game but I think probably the key period was the spell in the first half where they managed to get on top of the game and were clinical in terms of getting their goal.”

In addition to the 10 changes, McKenna used players in unfamiliar roles, Chuba Akpom on the left, Sindre Walle Egeli as the number 10 and Elkan Baggott at left-back. The Blues boss was asked whether he learnt anything from those selections.

“Yes,” he continued. “It’s clear that we had two goals coming into tonight, we wanted to go through in the cup and we tried right until the last second to do that, but a big priority had to be getting minutes into players who needed it.

“It’s clear with the schedule that we have and the games that we have to fit in that we’re going to need the squad and we need players match fit and ready to go, so we had to use tonight to get some players ready and to protect some other players.

“And within those players who needed the minutes, we used the opportunity to try some people in some different roles because it could be pivotal for us in the 16 league games we have remaining.

“You don’t quite know in which game or in which moment it might be, but that experience of a different relationship or a different position or a different partnership could be pivotal for us.

“So, we looked at some of those things tonight and there were some positives in there. Of course, when you have a lot of people in the team either getting their first minutes for a while or their first start for a while or playing in different in partnerships, not everything is going to be smooth, but there were some good things in there and certainly lots of things to improve.”

Cedric Kipre was the only player to start both against the Rams and Red Dragons but made way for skipper Dara O’Shea at the break in a move McKenna revealed had been decided before the match.

“We planned before the game that Cedric and Dara would probably do 45 minutes each,” he said. “It’s a little bit tricky with our centre-half balance with Elkan and Greavesy [Jacob Greaves] both being left-footed and it was really important to get them both minutes tonight.

“Of course, we had Elkan playing at left-back because we wanted to keep the balance for the team to have a right-footer there in the partnership. The plan before the game was that they would do half each.”

With O’Shea not starting, George Hirst captained for the first time with McKenna believing the Scotland international worthy of the accolade for his role in the club’s success over the past few seasons.

“It was clear for me,” he added. “He’s been a massive part of the club, into his fourth season now, has been a massive part of the success here. Has been an incredible signing for the football club, an incredible servant for the football club.

“Is still a really important person in the dressing room, a leader in the group, in the leadership group and it was clear that he would have that honour tonight.

“Something that he was really proud of and he battled on but unfortunately wasn’t able to get the goal, but I still think to captain a club like this is something that he’s deserved over the course of his time here and something to be really proud of.”

Quizzed on whether exiting the FA Cup might be a blessing in disguise for the club’s promotion ambitions with a busy fixture list between now and the end of the season, McKenna reflected: “You never know. If you go out and you make the changes and you go and win your next league game, there won’t be too many questions.

“But for me, you look at the schedule and you look at where we would fit in the games for an FA Cup run and, to be honest, it was really hard to see how that wouldn’t be to the detriment of the group.

“Having said that, we’re competitive people and it’s a proud football club and there was a fantastic support here tonight, so we tried to balance those goals with trying to go through in the tie and the players tried and we went to the last second with it.

“And we’re really disappointed for the supporters, especially those who travelled, that we weren’t able to give them the result, but I think with the schedule how it is, having a clear focus now in the league games now, we have two games a week every week up until the middle of April or something like that, so the group’s going to be really important.

“We’ve got minutes into the boys tonight, no injuries and I think that will set us up for the nine games in four weeks that we have coming up than if we hadn’t have given those opportunities.”

Town will be back at the Racecourse for a Championship fixture next Saturday and McKenna was asked whether he felt tonight’s match would have any impact on that game.

“Hopefully a positive one for us and I’m sure Phil will be thinking it’s hopefully positive for them,” he said.

“In reality, I probably don’t think so. It’s good to have been up here, first time at this ground for myself, for a lot of the players and the staff as well, so that’s always useful.

“We know Wrexham are a good team anyway but we felt some of their strengths tonight and we have a week to prepare now, and we need to come up here next week and deliver a really good performance to get the result we want.”

Photo: TWTD