ST MIRREN gaffer Gus MacPherson today revealed his frustration at his side's failure to turn dominance over Dundee United into a Scottish Cup last eight place.

The winner of the replay on Tuesday week will now face the victor from the re-scheduled Ross County-St Johnstone tie, and Mac felt his Saints missed a golden opportunity in the 0-0 draw.

He groaned: "To play that well against a team like Dundee United was pleasing but ultimately frustrating because we did more than enough to win. We created maybe half a dozen chances but passed them up while our goalkeeper has not had a save to make.

"So it is frustrating after a performance like that to have to do it all again at Tannadice."

And Mac admitted the absence of inspirational United skipper Barry Robson, who signed for Celtic last week, had been noticeable.

He said: "Barry Robson is a right good player and he scored regularly at Love Street and against St Mirren. I think that if you take someone like that out of a team then it will take a while to bed new players in, but they have a strong squad and I'm sure they will cope."

And United gaffer Craig Levein admitted his relief at still being in the Scottish Cup.

He said: "We were not great at all and I am still happy to be in the cup. I know our goalkeeper made a few good saves but we were not under severe pressure.

"But having an off day like this away from home another SPL side and still managing to get a replay is a bonus."

Hamilton gaffer Billy Reid today hailed his battling Accies after their narrow 1-0 Scottish Cup fifth round loss at Aberdeen.

A 62nd-minute Zander Diamond goal was enough to earn the Dons a home quarter-final tie with Celtic, but it was Accies who took all the plaudits for a committed performance in which they bossed their SPL opponents for much of the tie.

And a proud Reid said: "Especially in the first half I felt we controlled the game and also created the chances to win it. But when you play as well as that away from home against a team like Aberdeen you know that you must put the ball away when you are on top.

"However, even after the break we gave as good as we got and I am proud of the boys because they gave me everything.

"They have given me a benchmark performance and I will be expecting them to maintain these standards in the First Division, which has always been our priority."

Aberdeen gaffer Jimmy Calderwood said: "Hamilton were on top in the first half and gave us plenty of problems.

"They were a credit to the First Division and can rightly feel a bit unlucky to be out of the Scottish Cup.

"Really the only plus point is that we are in the next round. Accies gave us a real tough test but we didn't help ourselves much."