Steven Pressley could not hide his pride after Carlisle United stunned Barnsley to claim the club’s biggest ever away win in the League Cup.

The Blues’ 3-0 victory at Oakwell sent the Championship side crashing out of the competition in the first round.

United were handed a trip to League One outfit Rochdale in the second round draw after Harry McKirdy, Jack Bridge and Nathan Thomas scored against Daniel Stendel’s men.

The Tykes’ manager admitted Carlisle fully deserved their victory and Pressley said: “I’m so proud because it was a deserved 3-0 result, if not more.

“We had a few off the line, hit the post, the bar…it was an amazing performance and the players should be really proud of themselves.”

As well as being United’s best win on the road in the competition since it began in 1960, it was their biggest League Cup victory since a 3-0 home win over Chester in 1997.

Pressley said a tactical adjustment plus the right levels of belief helped his team to a memorable display in front of a vocal 385-strong travelling support.

“The adjustment was that I felt in the game on Saturday [at Swindon] we didn’t get enough connection to the striker, and we needed additional support, which would allow us to utilise our wide players more,” said Pressley, who also handed Jack Iredale and Ryan Loft full debuts.

“It allowed us to get what we call an immediate press applied quicker. But a lot of the other principles remained the same.

“Stefan Scougall was able to go from a slightly more advanced position into what we call recovery into his normal position and he was able to do that. Boy, was he amazing – boy, did he run and did he cover the distance. His contribution in the 90 minutes was quite amazing.

“Jack Iredale [who replaced Jon Mellish], as a more natural left-back, was excellent and gave a really assured performance, and with Loft, we’d watched Barnsley’s last two games, and they’re a big team – we felt if we’d started with Fela [Olomola] we’d have lacked a bit of height from set-plays, which they’re a danger from.

“Our lines of the team were also better. It was one of the areas we’ve concentrated on since Saturday – our defensive line taking a higher, more aggressive position, and they did that to good effect which helped the whole team. The two centre-backs showed their experience.

“We also got our pressing bang on at times, and we had a lot of steals that created counter-attack moments. That was really encouraging. Harry scores another goal, contributes with an assist, a great performance from him. Nathan, devastating, scores, and Loft up front ran tirelessly and led the line brilliantly.”

Pressley said United’s work rate, as well as the way they adapted to their surroundings, was essential to their victory.

“I spoke to the players after Saturday’s game and we’ve done a lot of work between then and now, and we have to pride ourselves on the fact that nobody works harder than Carlisle,” he said.

“When you go through the pre-season we go through, we do it for a reason. The reaction was amazing to a man. There wasn’t a disappointment. Even our substitutes made a huge contribution.

“The players deserve huge credit. A Tuesday night travelling from Carlisle to [Barnsley] is a big commitment – I’m just thankful we could send them home extremely happy.

“It’s a belief aspect. Sometimes you come to Championship grounds and clubs and can feel a little bit inferior. The psychological aspects in these games are among the most important. Once we settled into the game after 10 minutes we realised, ‘Hey, we can compete here’.

“Walking up the tunnel at full-time, Byron [Webster] said to me, ‘That’s the standard we’ve set’, and he’s right. The players have set amazing standards but it can’t be just one night. We have to follow that up on Saturday.

“We can’t live off the back of one good result. We have to ensure that come Saturday we’re ready to go again.”

After the game Barnsley manager Stendel said: "I think no-one from us expected this performance.

"In the end Carlisle deserved to win 3-0. It was hard for us tnight.

"We made too many mistakes and lost a lot of easy balls. We said after the Sheffield Wednesday game [Barnsley's 2-0 defeat on Saturday] that we want to play more as a team and play our game, and I didn’t get the impression tonight that we have emotion on the pitch.

“You can expect more fight, especially when you are the favourites at home with 5,000 people in the stand. I feel let down now but after I sleep I will look forward to the game on Saturday."

United's game at Spotland in the second round of the Carabao Cup will be played in the week starting August 26.