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KEVIN KILBANE spoke of his FA Cup agony as Town fell victim to Cesc Fabregas’ late penalty in their fourth round tie at the Emirates Stadium.

Lee Clark’s League I promotion chasers pushed the Premier League giants all the way on their own patch – only to lose 2-1 to the controversial spot kick.

Trailing to Nicklas Bendtner’s opening goal on 21 minutes, which went into the net after taking a deflection off Town defender Peter Clarke, Town took advantage of the 42nd minute sending off of French defender Sebastien Squillaci by pouring forward in the second half and equalising with Alan Lee’s 67th minute header – his first goal for the club.

But Arsenal nicked the win when Fabregas struck after Jamie McCombe was ruled to have fouled Bendtner.

Kilbane felt he should have cleared before the Arsenal attack originated and he admitted: “I was disappointed not to have put the ball in the stand or far upfield.

“It’s a sickener not to get anything after a performance like that, but I feel we can take great inspiration from what we achieved and push forward with our bid to get out of League I.”

Town take on Carlisle United tomorrow at the Galpharm Stadium and Kilbane added: “We have to make sure we produce the same level of performance, because it is an even more important game for us.”