 Recently appointed United manager Alex Ferguson cited City's better play for his team's defeat, saying "their players were prepared to risk life and limb — ours weren't”.Another away match followed in the fifth round on 21 February, this time Second Division at Stoke City, who had suffered only one defeat since November.The home side played better in the first half but Coventry withstood the pressure and once again took the game 1–0, Michael Gynn scoring on the rebound after David Phillips had failed to convert a Nick Pickering cross in the 72nd minute.