"We were well on control of the game and the goal they got gave the final score a false complexion.

"It might have been 5-0 at half-time as we dominated the whole 45 minutes.

"We now look forward to Hibs and we will see how it pans out, but it could be a big earner.

"There should be a decent crowd at Easter Road and it is great for the club.

"It is a long time (14 years) since Montrose have been in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup. Outside of the Old Firm, I am sure every team wanted to draw Hibs or Aberdeen in terms of making some cash."

The manager seems to have played a masterstroke by resting himself and Hugh Davidson against Stranraer so that they would be fresh for the cup-tie.

"We don't have a big enough squad to be able to rest a lot of players, but we did manage to rest a couple on Saturday. We had to look at the bigger picture. A place in the last 16 was at stake, with all the kudos that will bring."

The Montrose gaffer sprang two surprises on Edinburgh City by bringing back long-term injury victims Sean Fleming and John Gemmell.

"Sean will struggle to play on Saturday, but his workrate and desire said everything about him. He also gives our team a balance.

"John Gemmell also did very well and at last I have competition for places up front.

"I would still like to change my squad a little with a couple in and a couple out, but that will be dependent on finance.

"We are building for the future. We need to get as much quality in as we can and that is what I will try to do. We are looking to improve this season, but we are also trying to get ready for next.

"We are better than our points tally suggests, but we have made some horrendous errors.

"Stranraer boss Keith Knox said he could hardly believe his side won on Saturday and he is not the first manager to go away saying that.

"In our next couple of games, players will be giving 100% trying to get into the team against Hibs. Our cup success will have a positive spin-off."

Steven could scarcely believe what he had witnessed when he spoke just after his side somehow managed to lose 5-4 at home to Stranraer.

He said: "That was Kamikazi defending on our part. From 4-2 up we should have been good enough to take the three points.

"Having fought back from the loss of two early goals to lead 4-2, we should have been clever enough to close out the game.

"I was disappointed with the way we lost the goals. We made individual errors and it cost us.

"We always looked the more dangerous and outplayed Stranraer at times, yet they won 5-4.

"We created plenty of chances and scoring four goals at home should have been enough to win the game.

"Paul Tosh and Stevie Nicholas were class up front and I feel they were the best two players on the park.

"The pair of them showed some great movement and Paul's goals were the icing on the cake. He had a good header right at the end which could have given us a draw.

"Our delivery from wide areas was good, but we didn't have the experience to close out the game. We should have put the ball in the corners and squeezed up.

"Our decision making was poor when we were in the lead, but we haven't been in that situation too often this season. Losing the game that way was horrible, but we will learn from it."