Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna believes their 3-1 defeat against Fulham will serve them well in the long term because he had the chance to give different players the opportunity to shine, speaking to the Tractor Boys' media team.

Coming into this game, they would have been hoping to cause another cup upset after knocking out Wolverhampton Wanderers in the previous round.

A win against the Cottagers would have allowed them to secure a place in the last eight - but it wasn't meant to be in the end.

The visitors put out a reasonably strong lineup at Portman Road - and that paid dividends for Harry Wilson putting them 1-0 up in the ninth minute.

Rodrigo Muniz made it two shortly after the interval and Tom Cairney all but sealed the game in the 77th minute, with Elkan Baggott pulling one back for the hosts to make it 3-1.

Unfortunately for McKenna's men, they were unable to use that to mount a comeback, but can be very proud of how far they have come in the competition.

What type of side did Ipswich Town put out against Fulham?

McKenna made 11 changes to his starting lineup from the Plymouth Argyle game, with Christian Walton returning between the sticks and Axel Tunazebe being given an opportunity to prove his worth at the back.

After making the difference in the Wolves game, Jack Taylor also started, with the midfielder playing alongside Dominic Ball.

It was a brave decision for McKenna to take some key attacking players out including Nathan Broadhead and Conor Chaplin - and the likes of Kayden Jackson and Sone Aluko were given an opportunity to start.

What claim did Kieran McKenna make following Ipswich Town's defeat against Fulham?

Some would argue that McKenna should have gone with a stronger lineup to give Ipswich a better chance of getting through to the last eight.

But the Tractor Boys' boss brushed off this potential claim, saying: "We know the schedule we have coming up and the squad is going to be absolutely massive for us, maybe not in the next week but certainly in December, and we need everybody match-ready.

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"There aren’t too many opportunities to do that at the moment but this was one, against some really high level opposition, and we’ll be stronger for that. If we’d approached the game in a different way tonight then maybe we’d have got lucky and nicked a result, but that wouldn’t help us in the league or grow as a team and a Club.

"What will help is testing ourselves in really difficult circumstances, taking the lessons and moving on really quickly."

Should Ipswich Town have put out a stronger lineup against Fulham?

There are definitely two sides to this argument.

You can understand why some people would say the Tractor Boys should have put out a stronger lineup.

With the home advantage and a real chance to get to the last eight of a cup competition that still has beatable opponents including Port Vale and Middlesbrough in it, putting out a strong lineup would have made sense.

However, McKenna has a point.

Giving fringe players an opportunity against a strong side will have boosted their morale - and the league has to be their priority at this point considering their busy schedule and how well they are doing.