Nolan has essentially fielded the reserves for this competition, which I think is fair enough way to approach a cup that a lot of people don't care about.
I would have liked us to progress as apart from the money, it would have been a great morale booster for players not otherwise involved - and therefore for the squad in general. As it is, I think there will now be some now for some that a new contract next summer is looking a lot less likely.