Jim McIntyre admits he went over the top with his post-match criticism of Dundee's draw with Queen of the South.
The Dens Park boss was left frustrated as his side returned from their winter break to be held to a 1-1 William Hill Scottish Cup draw by the Doonhamers on Saturday.
He claimed the Ladbrokes Championship outfit were the better side before confessing he was relieved to still be in the competition.
But having seen a number of the Dark Blues' top-flight rivals crash out of the tournament, McIntyre now says he may have been too harsh with his players.
And he believes the first run out of 2019 will do the basement boys good as they look to kick-start their fight for survival away to Hearts on Wednesday.
He said: "We were disappointed with our overall performance but I was probably slightly harsh on the players in terms of my after-match comments, especially when you see how other Premiership teams struggled.
"We hadn't played for a three-week period and there was a bit of sluggishness there, there's no doubt about that.
"But the second-half reaction was a lot better and obviously we had our new goalkeeper Seny Dieng to thank for a couple of good saves.
"Queen of the South are no mugs and when you have someone of Stephen Dobbie's quality and that amount of goals in your side, then he's always going to be a threat.
"I was pleased with how we reacted (in the) second half and it was better from us but yeah, I was slightly harsh on the boys considering we were a bit rusty.
"We go to Tynecastle on Wednesday night and we want to start on a positive note. This is an opportunity to get another 90 minutes under our belt and get back at it."
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