"But I said it would be difficult and we give great credit to Broxburn. In the first half especially they made life difficult and we struggled to break them down. At times we didn't work the goalie enough and our delivery wasn't what it needed to be.

"But I give credit to my players – they were professional and weren't slack in possession. They just couldn't find that killer pass or work the goalie.

"But in the second half we looked better. Broxburn tired which was going to be the case because fitness-wise we have to be ahead of them. Gaps started to appear and it looks comfortable at 3-0 but it wasn't the case."

This was the sixth Scottish tie of the season for Broxburn from the East of Scotland Premier League and for long spells they looked comfortable against Premiership opposition.

Manager Brian McNaughton praised his players and the 1,600-strong travelling support.

He said: "They did great. Three-nil sounds like a smashing but St Mirren had all the play. They're a better team but we stuck at it, in the first half especially.

"When you think it was tier one versus tier six we showed there's a bit of quality further down the chain."