Aberdeen 1-1 Kilmarnock: Derek McInnes bemoans Killie spot kick call

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes admitted he was grateful to still be in the competition

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes is convinced Kilmarnock's Scottish Cup equaliser was not a penalty.

Killie earned a 1-1 draw and a replay thanks to Kris Boyd's spot kick after Jordan Jones went down under pressure from Kari Arnason and Shay Logan.

"I don't think it's a penalty, there isn't any contact," McInnes told BBC Scotland.

The Dons boss did, however, accept that his players had caused the problem by failing to deal with a simple pass.

"I can understand maybe why at first he thought it could've been a penalty, but I don't think my players bring Jones down," McInnes added.

Kilmarnock boss Steve Clarke felt his side were well worthy of a replay

"But we caused it, it was a mix up and we should deal with a straightforward pass through.

"We're in the strongest position with a ball forward and it's in between Shay and big Arnie, we've allowed Jones to get in."

The hosts had got off to a fine start in this quarter-final with Graeme Shinnie's angled effort giving them the lead.

Boyd's penalty came after the break and McInnes conceded afterwards that he was glad to still be in the competition.

Kilmarnock were awarded a penalty when Jordan Jones was brought down by Shay Logan and Kari Arnason

"Although we had a couple of good chances, maybe the better chances in the second half after their goal, I still thought that Kilmarnock, after they scored, looked the team more prominent and took a lift from getting the goal," he said.

"We got ourselves into a winning position and we've allowed it to slip through our hands, and we're just grateful to still be in the cup. When you don't play as well, as we did second half, and especially after losing the goal, you're only a mistake away from going out of the cup. We're grateful because we didn't do enough over the 90 minutes to be convincing enough to get the job done.

"We got off to a brilliant start and I thought Shinnie's driving runs from full back were a key part of that first half. We were the better team in the first half, we had the better of the opportunities and we played the game more in their half."

Killie boss Steve Clarke disagreed with his Dons counterpart's assessment.

"I'm not sure they dominated they first half," he said. "I thought it was an even game, really scrappy and both teams were struggling to play good football on the surface. At half-time we were unlucky to be behind.

"The first was a soft goal to lose but we responded well as we always do. We were well worth the replay."

Clarke said he had not seen the replay of the penalty incident or the claim his side had waved away in the first half when Ryan Christie appeared to foul Eamonn Brophy.

But he added of the challenge on Jones that led to the penalty: "If it was Logan that pulled him down, and I think it was, it should've been a second yellow and he should've been off the pitch."