Ian Murray insists Airdrie will keep fighting for the League One title but says if they are destined for the play-offs again, they are better prepared to win promotion this season.
The Diamonds kept the pressure on league leaders Cove Rangers with a thumping 4-1 win at Falkirk on Saturday, but they are still five points adrift in second spot with seven games remaining.
Murray’s men had to settle for the play-offs last term as Partick pipped them to promotion. Airdrie eventually lost to Morton in the final and missed out on a place in the Championship and, after Cove made it 19-games unbeaten in the division with a win over Clyde, Murray said: “We will never give up, it’s not in our makeup.
“We’ve been behind many times this season and last season and pulled through.
“It’s very important, regardless of where we finish now, that we finish the season strongly.
“If we are in the play-offs, we are in the play-offs and we will tackle that with confidence because we are in far better shape now than we were last season.
“Our fitness levels are really high.”
Airdrie now host fourth place Queen’s Park ahead of a home showdown with Cove on March 26 that will make or break their chances of automatic promotion.
The Spiders have lost just once in five meetings between the sides in all competitions this term so pose a tricky test at New Broomfield.
But Murray is confident – and relieved the match isn’t being played at Firhill at such a crucial juncture
He said: “Saturday will be a very hard game, but I’m thankful we are not going to Firhill, that’s for sure. That’s one thing we don’t want to be doing again this season because of the condition of the pitch, in all honesty.
“People might say we’ve had mixed results with Queen’s Park so far but they’ve not beaten us in the league.
“We will take this week to analyse where they are and we will try and find ways to combat them.
“We will hit them where we think they are weak and try to play to our strengths.
“They’ve been really tight encounters between the two sides this season, but we’ll be ready for the battle.”
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