Holloway was disappointed, but saluted his players' efforts in the 4-2 loss against Manchester Untied on Sunday.

"This is a special group down here and we're very disappointed right now," Holloway told Sky Sports.

"After taking the lead, we had started to believe we can do this. You saw the way we played, the chances we created, we've got to take those.

"But United brought on Wayne Rooney, they're used to winning and we lost out.

"That aside, we've been absolutely outstanding and it's hard to take."