Mick McCarthy is confident that Ipswich Town's promotion bid will not suffer as a result of being knocked out of the FA Cup by Southampton on Wednesday.

Shane Long struck the only goal of the game on 19 minutes as the Saints edged out McCarthy's side in a third-round replay at Portman Road.

The Tractor Boys sit third in the Championship table, one point adrift of the automatic promotion places, and the Ipswich boss says that their quest to the top flight will not take a knock.

"We gave away a soft goal and then didn't create many chances. Southampton are a good team and have the best defensive record in the Premier League," he told BBC Sport.

"Whenever you lose it's always a dampener but it's not going to throw us off course."

Ipswich travel to The Den for a clash with relegation-threatened Millwall - who went down 4-0 at League One Bradford City last night - on Saturday.