Derek Carcary pulled a goal back from the penalty spot before half-time and Sean Stewart gave the Bankies faithful hope of a comeback.

However it wouldn’t be enough and the fourth round tie finished 3-2.

Despite questioning some of the referees decisions — Shettleston were awarded a penalty in the opening stages and Clydebank denied one later in the game — Barclay refused to look for excuses and insists Budgie McGhie’s side can’t start matches like that and expect to win games.

He told SportScene: “Shettleston are a battling team and they came at us from the start, before we set ourselves in the game we were 3-0 down.

“We were losing individual battles all over the park and being dominated. A couple of decisions were probably a bit suspect from the referee but that is a personal opinion I suppose.

“The penalty for them is in the first couple of minutes. It was Ian Gold that was involved, he doesn’t even realise their player is behind him and he’s tried to hook it clear. Looking at the replay he’s not even made contact with his head but he has given the penalty.

“In the second half we played a lot better, the penalty claim for us did look like a penalty.” Barclay — who was sent off in the closing stages on Saturday for a second yellow card — believes that Bankies being able to focus all their attention on their league fixtures will help the club’s push to stay in the Premier League. Clydebank are currently seven points from safety Clydebank are currently seven points from safety at the bottom of the table, but there was some good news for them on Saturday as the two teams directly above them — Shotts Bon Accord and Kilbirnie Ladeside — both lost.

But Barclay knows Clydebank need to win some games soon if they have a chance of survival, although Saturday’s trip to league leaders Irvine Meadow won’t provide the easiest opportunity for three points.

He said: “Now there is only six points in it. We still have Kilbirnie to play twice and Shotts to play once. With the result on Saturday we can just concentrate on the league, we need to get wins, we would bite your hand off just now to finish third bottom and go into a play-off.

“Irvine Meadow are a very structured team, they can soak up a lot of pressure. We could go at them for 10 minutes and they can handle it and go up and score, they have been doing that well all year, seeing out games.

“We need to go down there and treat it as a cup final, that’s what all our games are for us until the end of the season.”