Alan Archibald conceded his 'jaded' Jags were well beaten by Aberdeen as Partick Thistle bowed out of the Scottish Cup.

A Graeme Shinnie strike just before the break may have been the difference between the two teams in this quarter-final but Firhill boss Archibald admitted afterwards his side didn't deserve to go through and meet Hibs in the last four.

He had named an unchanged starting team following their midweek win at Dens Park which he had described as ‘a perfect away performance.’

However, while they set out as briskly as he hoped they would in seeking to extend a four match winning run, Archibald acknowledged Aberdeen had controlled proceedings before a late Danny Devine red card compounded a frustrating day's work.

“I thought we started well enough and were the better side for the first five or 10 minutes, but we fell out of the game after that,” he admitted.

“It was one game too much for some of our players.

“We’ve got to pass it better. Our delivery was poor, whereas Aberdeen used their big boy up front [Jayden Stockley] very well."

That had contributed to the only goal of the game as Stockley laid the ball off to Shinnie and the Aberdeen captain had the time and composure to take a couple of touches as he moved infield across the edge of the penalty area on the right, before sending his left footed shot curving past Tomas Cerny.

Cerny had already pulled off a fine save to deny Niall McGinn after he had met a Devine headed clearance on the edge of the box with a sweetly timed volley that sent the goal-keeper diving to his left and he was much the busier goal-keeper until the closing stages.

While Thistle managed to create some opportunities during the inevitable late flurry, their captain Abdul Osman missing the best of them as he rose to meet a Callum Booth free-kick but put it just over when he probably should have scored, their manager acknowledged that a draw would have been an unjust outcome given the overall balance of the match.

“We were pushing the game later on and we have to take our chances, but I don’t think we deserved it,” said Archibald.

Nor did he have any register any concern about his team finishing the game with 10 men after Devine was shown a second yellow card in the dying seconds.

“I think it’s a foul by Danny,” he said. “There might have been a handball just before it so it would have been good if that had been given instead, but we’ve no complaints about the sending off.

“It’s just disappointing, but we’re fully focused on the league now."

Meanwhile, after watching his side earn another Hampden visit Derek McInnes admitted he was relieved to avoid having to face Treble-chasing Celtic in the semi-finals.

“It’s a good draw and I’m sure Hibs will see it the same,” said McInnes, dispensing with the usual protocol of claiming not to have had any preferences.

“If we’re all being honest the three other teams wanted to avoid Celtic because they’re the strongest team at the minute.”