Dunfermline manager Stevie Crawford is proud of the progress made by his players this season despite a loss to St Johnstone in the Betfred Cup quarter-final.
The Championship side pushed their Premiership opponents all the way. They fought back form a goal down in extra time to force a penalty shoot-out.
With the game level at 1-1 after 120 minutes, the Pars eventually lost 4-3 on penalties. However, Crawford has no criticism and only praise for his players after giving their all against a team which has been on a good run in the Premiership.
“We have improved”
“There are two bits that stuck out in the game for me – the first twenty minutes when we were up against a good Premiership side. Callum (Davidson) has got them well-organised, and we dug it out at a horrible time in the game when we were under the cosh. That is where I think we have improved” he said (Dunfermline website).
Crawford went to disclose what he said to the players following the defeat. He told them to keep their heads up.
“I have said to them to a man in there, no matter how the result was going to go tonight, when you are coming up against an opposition that is an established Premiership club, as long as they have given it their best effort you can live with a lot of things in life.”
Manager hopes defeat spurs players on
The Pars boss hopes that the pain of the defeat can motivate his players going forward this season, Beginning with Saturday’s trip to Dundee.
“Let that be the hunger, they have just missed out on a chance to get to a semi-final, which you don’t get very often. It is just making sure that the hurt from the result doesn’t go the other way, and they feel sorry for themselves and it very much kicks them on” he concluded.