Motherwell boss Graham Alexander refused to read the riot act as his side struggled to find a way past Championship side Greenock Morton, and insists he was always confident they would win.
The Fir Park gaffer insists that even as Robbie Muirhead put Dougie Imrie's side ahead on the stroke of half-time of extra-time, he told his players not to panic.
A push on Ross Tierney gave Kevin Van Veen a chance to level from the spot, and when the Irish forward's shot was cleared off the line, Liam Donnelly rifled it into the top left corner for a last-gasp winner.
Alexander said: "It was a typical cup tie. I thought we played well and created a lot of chances.
"We dominated, but we knew Morton were a well-coached, organised and motivated team who were going to be hard to break down and they were exactly that.
"But I felt we just couldn’t find that final touch, and their keeper made some excellent saves.
"It was about perseverance. When Morton got that goal it put us in a difficult spot, but credit to the players for battling back. It was a fantastic penalty from Kevin and a great finish from Liam.
“It was about how long we had left to come back and we didn’t have that long.
"We had 15 minutes and we hadn’t managed to get that goal in the previous 105 minutes so we knew time was against us.
"We asked the players not to panic in extra time half time because we felt that we would have that extra bit of quality to at least get an equaliser and maybe a winner and we’ve done both.
"I am always confident in my players.
"I thought we showed Morton the right respect, we competed hard and worked hard, but we were just done by a counter-attack and a sucker punch.
"But we found the courage and character to dig ourselves out of it.”
For the second successive season Motherwell needed extra-time to see off Morton in the Scottish Cup fourth round, but this time it at least didn't require penalties.
Alexander felt that Motherwell were the better side despite losing 3-1 to Ross County on Tuesday, and said he wouldn't have laid into his troops had Morton won today.
He said: "I did feel that if we didn’t win it that would have been two games we have been in control and hadn’t won, but that didn’t happen.
"I don’t think anyone can argue with the result because it was the right outcome, but both teams committed to a very good cup tie and Morton can hold their heads high. I think neutrals will look on it and think the right team won.#
"I can’t remember Liam Kelly having any saves to make and I thought we defended well and created well. We could have been more ruthless in the final third but I thought we played well.
“I couldn’t have had a go at them if we hadn’t got back.”
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