Gary Bowyer hailed his Dundee side’s efforts as they were denied a Scottish Cup shock after penalty pain at St Mirren.
The Buddies went through to the last 16 after Trevor Carson saved all three Dark Blues penalties.
However, Bowyer was full of praise for the manner in which his side approached the tie and felt the performance deserved far more than it was rewarded with.
That was despite losing both Tyler French and Cammy Kerr to injuries in the first half with French needing lengthy treatment before being stretchered off.
And Bowyer was delighted with how his side dealt with those injuries.
“I thought we were brilliant, we were really good. We took a Premiership team on and had a right good go at them,” the Dundee boss said.
“It shouldn’t really have got to extra-time with the chances we missed.
“I’m proud.
“We had the big loss of Tyler French, he’s in hospital now and it’s not looking good for him.
“Then we lost Cammy Kerr in the first half and had to adjust, we lost Ben Williamson yesterday afternoon.
“It was a magnificent effort from us, we took the game to them and I thought we did really well.
“We had the better chances. Gallagher brings Jakubiak down when he’s last man on the halfway line with a brutal challenge – we’ve not had much go for us today.”
‘We should have won’
He added: “It would be wrong to single anybody out. To a man, we defended by throwing bodies in front and blocks.
“Kwame was one, Lee Ashcroft, Ryan Sweeney, Josh Mulligan was terrific going back to right-back.
“Lyall Cameron came on and did ever so well, so did Max Anderson and Luke McCowan.
“Alex Jakubiak was a real handful – they took their defender off because he was giving him that much trouble.
“If there’s one bit we have to be better at, it’s that top end of the pitch because the number of chances we’ve created this season we should have won more games than we have done.
“And we should have won that one.”
Tyler French
The big concern is over French after lengthy treatment and the amount of pain the former Wrexham man was clearly in.
Just seven minutes were on the clock when he tackled Alex Gogic in midfield, however he did so awkwardly and came off second best.
Though the full extent of the injury is still to be assessed, the worry is French is set for an extended period on the sidelines.
Asked if the leg was broken, Bowyer responded: “We’ve not confirmation on that but that’s what we’re fearing.”
Stretched
Cammy Kerr, meanwhile, also went off with a back injury while Shaun Byrne missed out through injury and Williamson was also absent with two empty spaces left on the bench.
Bowyer added: “We’re stretched, we were stretched for numbers before today. We’ve lost five and only brought one in.
“Our priority has probably shifted now in terms of defensive cover.
“We need to get some bodies in, that’s for sure.”
Conversation