McEwan had a night to forget in Dunfermline

Livingston manager Jim Leishman refused to be too harsh on goalkeeper David McEwan after the youngster's blunders dumped his side out of the Scottish Cup.

McEwan gifted Dumfermline a fourth round clash at home to Hibernian with two second-half mistakes which handed Craig Brewster a double on Tuesday night.

Scotland under-21 cap McEwan has been given his chance following the departure of Javier Sanchez Broto to Celtic during the winter transfer window.

However, with Livingston recently signing experienced former St Johnstone keeper Alan Main, McEwan's first team place could be in jeopardy.

We are a family at Livingston and when someone in your family suffers you rally round Jim Leishman Livingston manager

"It was a reality check for David," said a disappointed Leishman after the third round replay 2-0 defeat at East End Park.

"We threw him in at the deep end when Broto left for Celtic, but he is a young lad and he will learn.

"We are a family at Livingston and when someone in your family suffers you rally round them and that is what we will be doing."

Livingston coach Allan Preston admitted there had been tears from McEwan in the dressing room afterwards but also tipped the youngster to bounce back.

Preston said: "We're all disappointed. It's a hard one to take for David - but it's character-building and I'm sure he'll come through it.

"With kids it's often about inconsistency. He felt he has left the club and the team down but everybody made mistakes on the night."

Dunfermline manager Jimmy Calderwood admitted he felt sympathy for McEwan.

"You feel sorry for the keeper - but only because we won the game," said Calderwood.

"The young lad will learn from it but he must hate coming here because he came on for Javier Sanchez Broto when we played here in the league and let one in.

"The first goal was always going to be vital because you could see the two teams were lacking confidence and the pitch didn't make for good football.

"We didn't play the way we could play but we started the second-half well and deserved to win it at the end."