Dunfermline manager Allan Johnston felt his team were desperately unfortunate to exit the Scottish Cup and felt the Pars were the better side over both matches against Ross County.
Following a competitive 2-2 draw against the Staggies at East End Park on Saturday, Johnston’s side more than matched their Premiership opponents until Rafa De Vita netted the winner for the Dingwall outfit on 71 minutes in the replay.
Johnston, however, felt the Fife side deserved better from the tie.
He said: “Over the two games I think we were the team that deserved to go through.
“We were definitely on the front foot. The only criticism I can maybe have is that we didn’t take our chances again.
“We had a couple of great opportunities in the first 15 minutes and they were the ones we had to take – especially when we’re playing against Premiership teams.
“We showed our quality, though. We kept them going right until the end and pushed County hard. I thought we were the better team.”
Dunfermline are nine points ahead at the top of League 1 and Johnston was greatly encouraged by his team’s display against County.
He added: “We’ve got a lot of quality players and I felt the team showed that again.
“We were playing against a Premiership side, but our players passed the ball and dominated for large periods of the game.”