Dundee boss Jim McIntyre was relieved to still be in the Scottish Cup after his side scraped a draw with Queen of the South at Dens Park.
Saturday’s fourth-round clash saw the Doonhamers deservedly move ahead through veteran striker Stephen Dobbie’s 33rd goal of the campaign.
Although Jesse Curran struck a fine equaliser at the end of the first half, it was to prove the Dark Blues only shot on target over the 90 minutes.
It was down to the heroics of debut keeper Seny Dieng, on loan from QPR for the rest of the season, that McIntyre’s men can look forward to a replay at Palmerston next week.
And Jim conceded they were outplayed for much of the 90 minutes by the visitors.
However, on a day of shock results that saw Motherwell and Ayr United go down to lower level opposition, Aberdeen held at home by Stenhousemuir and St Mirren having to battle back from two goals down against Alloa to edge through, being in the hat for the fifth-round draw was a consolation.
It will see Dundee face the Dons or Stenny away – if they can come through the second game.
“I thought Queen of the South were better than us. We didn’t start the game well,” said Jim.
“These cup games are always difficult. Just look at the results around the other clubs and there’s been a few shocks.
“I’m just glad that we’re still in the cup and we have another chance to rectify that performance. We all know it was short of what we’re looking for.”
If he was unhappy with his team’s work, the manager did stress the quality Queens showed did not surprise him.
“You’ve got to credit Queen of the South. Give them a bit of credit, they played well.
“You know what it’s like when a Championship or lower team comes to a Premiership club. You know they are going to be right up for the game and you know you are going to be in a fight.
“They beat Ross County 4-0 last week which was a fabulous result against a team who’ve just knocked Motherwell out.”
On top of getting another chance, Jim was pleased with the debuts he handed to Dieng, Craig Curran and second-half subs Andy Dales and Andrew Nelson.
“The positives for me were the introduction of the newer players who all contributed and there will be better days ahead for us.”
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.