PHIL Parkinson believes City can be “immensely proud” of their FA Cup heroics despite missing out on a Wembley return.

City’s run to the quarter-finals came to an abrupt end last night as Reading blew them away 3-0 in a one-sided replay at the Madejski Stadium.

Parkinson admitted his side never recovered from conceding twice in the first nine minutes against the pumped-up Championship side. But he knows City have created enough memories after beating Chelsea and Sunderland to ease the pain.

Parkinson said: “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb with the start and you could see we were deflated on the pitch after that.

“We were up against a Reading team who were obviously very fresh after being rested on Saturday and really played with a spring in their step. We found it difficult to respond.

“The two-goal lead lifted the whole ground and the Reading players. But we’ve got to be immensely proud in the dressing room of what we’ve achieved in the competition this year.

“This is tough to take because we wanted to progress and we had great support down. But we’ve got to quickly move on and reflect on what we have done.

“We’ve got so many great memories in this year’s FA Cup to take with us for the rest of this season and also for years to come.”

Filipe Morais was sent off in the second half for a high boot on Reading midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah. After watching the replays again, Parkinson conceded that referee Mike Jones – who had an inconsistent game - had got that call right.

“I thought Filipe had his eye on the ball and it wasn’t intentional,” he added. “But he has caught him high, so it’s a difficult one for the ref.

“At first I thought it was harsh but having seen the TV footage, I think it probably was a red.

“I don’t think it’s the ref’s fault we’ve gone out. We’ve got to give Reading credit because they played exceptionally well on the night.

“I think we just came up against a team who played really well and we started poorly.

“On these cup runs, when you’re a team from a lower division, there’s always a danger you’ll have a real off day. When you do against a higher-class opposition, you get punished.”

Parkinson praised the 3,500-strong away following who belted out their support throughout the game, even though it was clear that City were not going to find a way back.

“They were magnificent,” he said. “Obviously I feel for them because they’ve just watched their team go out in a high-profile game.

“But we’ve given them many terrific trips away this season and in other seasons. I’m sure they’ll be like me and draw a line under this and move on to get ready for Fleetwood at home on Saturday.

“We’ve got 11 games to go and nobody else in our division apart from Sheffield United earlier in the season have had the number of high-profile games we’ve had to contend with.

“The lads have kept going terrifically well. Now we’ve got a clear run at it to really focus on the league.

“We’re going to have a good go. I believe we’ve got the quality in there and the determination to put last night behind us and take the positives from what has been a terrific FA Cup run.”