Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy has admitted that he is "embarrassed" after his side exited the FA Cup at the hands of National League outfit Lincoln City.

The Tractor Boys were left stunned at Sincil Bank last night when Nathan Arnold fired home in the 91st minute to send the hosts through to the fourth round of the competition.

The surprise result served to heap further pressure on McCarthy, who has already come under fire for the side's sub-par results in the Championship this term.

Asked if he could explain why his team had been outplayed by a side 59 places below them in the football pyramid, he replied: "If I knew that, I'd pack this job in, I'd write a book and I'll tell Liverpool how they should have done it against Plymouth and everybody else who has suffered upsets in the cup going all the way back to Leeds against Colchester all those years ago.

"There'd be no cup upsets, there'd be no fun, you wouldn't be talking to me and I wouldn't be sat here embarrassed. We shouldn't get beaten by a National League side, whether they are top of the [National League] or not. Yes, absolutely, I am embarrassed.

"If there had only been nine and a half thousand seen my embarrassment instead of how many million [on BBC One] it would have been better."

Ipswich have now exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle in each of the last seven seasons.