Airdrie striker Calum Gallagher isn't giving up hope on the League One title just yet - despite a costly draw at Montrose handing leaders Cove Rangers the chance of clinching the crown this weekend.
The Diamonds went into Saturday's clash with the Gable Endies two points off the top of the table but a battling 2-2 draw at Links Park, coupled with a 2-0 win for Cove at Falkirk, saw the deficit go back to five points at the summit.
There's just three games remaining of the season and an Airdrie slip up at home to Dumbarton on Saturday along with a win for Cove against Alloa would see the Aberdeenshire side seal the title and automatic promotion.
Airdrie's draw extended their unbeaten run to 17 games and with Cove on a 23-game streak themselves, it would take a huge collapse from Paul Hartley's side now for the trophy to be heading to New Broomfield.
But Gallagher, who scored Airdrie's second equaliser at Montrose after Callum Smith's earlier effort, said: "It becomes more challenging now.
"It's less likely that we will win [the league], but it's about maintaining the unbeaten run, keeping the performances high and doing everything right.
"We want to approach these last few games with the right mentality that allows us to either keep on our streak and clinch the league if the opportunity comes, or to go into the play-offs with a head of steam.
"We weren't aware Cove were winning [their game].
"On the pitch we were going for it because we were under the impression that maybe they weren't winning.
"But we heard the result in the changing room and that's difficult to take."
Airdrie felt unfortunate not to claim victory in Angus, as Dylan Easton missed a penalty and Alan Fleming's heroics in goal for Montrose also denied the Diamonds in a pulsating contest.
Gallagher added: "It was a game of tennis. It was end-to-end stuff for virtually the full 90 minutes.
"The boys put an awful lot into it and we had good chances to win the game.
"Their goalie has had an outstanding game and kept them in it, and kept us away from the three points.
"But the two goals we lost weren't great. Both are set-pieces and it's miscommunication in the box.
"The first one, a man gets dropped and there's a bit of confusion about who is picking up who. And the second one is a cross in and our lines aren't cleared quick enough.
"When you are hurting it's important to take the positives out of it and we've gone down twice at potentially the toughest place to come in this league, and we looked resilient. If a team was going to win it would have been us."
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