Airdrieonians boss Rhys McCabe expressed his pride at his side's attitude against Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Cup fifth-round clash - but admitted they were defeated by a superior side.

The Diamonds have won plaudits for their style under the young player/manager and they stuck to their philosophy despite facing the third-best side in the country.

McCabe noted the quality of Lawrence Shankland who netted a double in the 4-1 in for Hearts and the professionalism of Steven Naismith's men.

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"For large parts we didn’t sit off the game as a lot of smaller clubs might. We went after them and tried to impose our style," McCabe said. "We can learn from that level of opposition.

"£5million or £6million is being banded about Shankland. If you give a player of that quality chances then he’s bound to take them.

"They’re a good side but we wanted to impose our style and make a game of it. I thought we were competitive for large parts and we hit the bar. If we’d been a bit more ruthless with our execution then you never know.

"Hearts showed their professionalism and maturity and managed the game really well. We wanted to get back into the game and it was a little bit about risk-reward.

"We had to go man for man at times and the players gave everything."