There will be no shame in going out of the cup to Manchester City. Win or lose it will be a great experience for players and fans. I'd take the 3 points on Tuesday every single time.
But that wasn't the option It was either a 4-0 victory over Wolves, or a 1-0 win against City. You can still have the option of a win on Tuesday (5-0 or 6-0, for example), just not by 4-0.
Lets forget about the amount of goals and instead think of the points. 3pts could, and probably will, be the difference between League1 and Championship football next season for us. The Wolves game is the priority.
Serious question ESL, what do you hope the result is against City? I'm just curious as I also have affections for other teams (Lincoln City and Zenit). However, when we have played Lincoln I have always wanted Barnsley to win and preferably by as many goals as possible, same as any other match. If we ever played Zenit in Europe it would be exactly the same. 6-0 to Barnsley would do nicely.