Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew had no complaints following his side’s 5-1 defeat to Manchester City in the Capital One Cup.

The 2013-14 Premier League champions cruised through to the quarter-finals as goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Wilfried Bony, Kelechi Iheanacho, Yaya Toure and Manuel Garcia completed an emphatic win at the Etihad Stadium.

Pardew acknowledged City thoroughly deserved the victory, but suggested the result could have been closer had the Eagles finished with more precision.

“It was a tough night for us,” he said.

“We were short on numbers tonight and the team lacked a bit of balance. A lot of our flair players were injured but Manchester City played well tonight and took their chances and unfortunately we didn't.

MORE: Palace's lack of threat is worrying

“Almost every time City had a chance they punished us, particularly in the first 60 minutes and that was very much the story.

“We had three or four good chances and it is not often that you get that so you have to take them and we were then vulnerable particularly when they go two ahead.

“We should have scored before they did and then at 2-0 had a great chance but we didn't make the most of them.

MORE: Fan applies for Charlton Head Coach job

“They deserved the victory so we have no complaints.”

Travel issues on the M6 ensured significant delays for visiting fans and Pardew hopes to repay them for their efforts later in the season.

The 54-year-old added: “I know some of the fans had trouble getting here, so we’d like to say thank you and I hope we can repay them later in the season. Thanks to all of you.”

Follow us on Twitter @NewsShopperSprt