Nigel Pearson says the Tigers must improve their ability to handle being put under pressure by their opponents following Tuesday night's Carling Cup defeat at Brentford.

City were beaten 2-1 at Griffin Park despite Mark Cullen giving them an early lead and Pearson was disappointed with the number of mistakes his players made.

"We have to be better than that in terms of our ability to deal with the pressure that our opponents put us under," said Pearson.

"It was a game that we could have won but unfortunately we're on the receiving end of an upset at this stage of a cup competition. We had chances to win and I thought we did okay on the counter-attack, but some of the mistakes we made were basic.

"Until we rectify the mistakes that we keep making then it's going to be difficult for us. But we'll keep working until we get it right."

One positive to take from the night was the performance of teenage striker Cullen who opened his account for the season and had another effort wrongly ruled out for offside.

"I thought he did very well and he should have had two goals looking at the replay," added Pearson.

"But these are things that go against you and it would be wrong for me to bemoan decisions as they come because that is part and parcel of football."