Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said he didn't want to 'humiliate a great opponent' following his side's 4-1 Carabao Cup defeat of Burton Albion on Wednesday night.
Mourinho's side eased to victory courtesy of a double from Marcus Rashford and goals from Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard before Lloyd Dyer's late consolation gave the travelling Brewers something to cheer.
And the Portuguese, a four-time winner of the league cup and current holder, stressed that a 'big result' was not the aim, and that he wanted to show respect to Nigel Clough and his side.
"I just want to win the game," he told Talksport post-match.
"The objective is not a big result – a humiliation to a great opponent that will be fighting hard in the Championship.
"So we just want to win it, and while the result was open we did it in a strong way.
"When we arrive at half-time with the 3-0, from that moment it is just to let it go and finish as soon as possible."
"We played seriously, we gave no chance to the opponent, when you arrive at 3-0 at half-time it was time for us to slow down a bit, to control the game, to control the result and also I think they were also fighting for a result that could give some dignity and not to lose for many.
"I think Nigel made it clear that the match next weekend is more important for them, he made a few changes."
Mourinho also questioned whether English football and the teams involved in fighting for titles and European honours benefit from having to play in an extra cup competition that is well down the pecking order of most sides in the Premier League.
As it was, the former Chelsea manager was still able to field north of £150 million worth of talent against the Brewers, indicating that it might not be as big an issue to a side that won the Europa League and Carabao Cup last term.
"If the competition is an official competition then it is important for Manchester United and for me as a manager," he added.
"If you ask me could English football survive or even be better without this competition? Maybe, maybe we would be fresher for European competition for example.
"But we have this competition, we have to respect the sponsors, we have to respect the opponents and a lot of us are trying to do our best."
