IT could have been little consolation for Kyle Benedictus to hear David Martindale and Livingston's players wax lyrical about Raith Rovers after dumping them out of the Scottish Cup. 

But he was only too happy to lap up the praise and shower it on his own teammates in the hopes the defeat will spur the Fifers on to a rematch with the Lions in next season's Premiership. 

The impressive Rovers didn't look out of place against their top flight opponents and Benedictus believes it has given the team confidence they can go toe-to-toe with Scotland's elite.

READ MORE: Livingston 2-1 Raith Rovers: Livi roar back to dump out guests in thrilling cup tie

"It’s credit to ourselves again," the Raith captain said. "I think we’ve shown people what we’re all about. We’re disappointed but still confident going into the last five games in the league.

"I can only help our confidence, they’re top five in the Premiership and credit to where they are. They were 14 games unbeaten at one point and it just shows you the squad they’ve got here." 

Lewis Vaughan's stunning free kick had Raith dreaming of a fourth round tie only for Jack Fitzwater to volley home late on to send the game into extra time. With the guests looking increasingly tired, Matej Poplatnik ghosted in to space to tap home a winner to break Rovers' hearts. 

"Now it’s back to league business, we have five important games now and need to focus on that," Benedictus, 29, added. "That’s our bread and butter and we’ve given ourselves a real good chance of the play-offs. 

"We wanted to show the quality we’ve got here in front of the BBC cameras and there is no disgrace going out to a team that is sitting in fifth place in the top league." 

For Fitzwater, it was a win which cemented Livi's recent return to form having finally got over a dispiriting Betfred Cup final loss in February. 

It also keeps the Lions in the hunt for another shot at silverware and, with top six secured, the Englishman says there is no reason they can't dream of another Hampden showpiece.

The National: Fitzwater's goal dragged Livi back into the game Fitzwater's goal dragged Livi back into the game  

"We went to challenge ourselves, we’ve cemented the top six now and we have kick on now, whether that’s finishing in the top four or seeing how far we go in the cup so that is definitely on our minds," the 23-year-old said. 

"As a club, we finished fifth last season, although I wasn’t here. We’re fifth again and we’ve got to go in and try and get as far as we can in this competition."