Neal Ardley acknowledged Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was the difference tonight as AFC Wimbledon bowed out of the FA Cup.
The Reds skipper, who announced last week this would be his last season at Anfield, score twice to break Dons hearts at Kingsmeadow.
Bayo Akinfenwa's equaliser had given the hosts hope but Gerrard's stunning second-half free-kick won the game for the visitors to halt Wimbledon on the road to Wembley.
Dons boss Ardley said: “I'm proud but I'm also disappointed. You're in this game to win and I thought with a bit more quality and a bit more nous I think we could've come away with at least a draw. We got out-done by a world-class player in the end.
“I think he wants to go out at Liverpool on a high, playing brilliantly, and he was different class tonight. It's very rare you get that kind of player staying at one club for such a long period of time. It'll be an emotional last game for him at Anfield.
“I think the headlines were written for him after the week that he's had. I didn't want to be part of that positive for him and there's that element of that disappointment in me at the moment. We showed the lads videos of Liverpool's goals and the last one I showed them was Gerrard curling a free-kick into the top corner.
“I told Sheasy to be ready for that [Gerrard's free-kick technique]. Today he's done exactly what happened in the video. I don't think we needed to give away the foul though, it was the one rash moment where we dived in. It proved to be the decisive point.”
Liverpool's reward for beating the Dons is a fourth-round tie with Bolton Wanderers at Anfield. Wimbledon return to League Two action with a trip to Stevenage this weekend.
