Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe says Saturday’s embarrassing SPFL Trust Trophy defeat against Lowland League champions East Kilbride needs to be a wake-up call for his struggling side.
The Diamonds were holders of the Trust Trophy, and sit bottom of the Championship with just one win in their last 10 games as they head for fifth-placed Partick Thistle on Saturday.
Airdrie were seemingly toothless as East Kilbride attacked from the start and were worthy of their lead when Jordan McGregor fired them ahead in 39 minutes.
Gavin Gallagher eventually smashed in a rocket to level in 86 minutes, with Ben Wilson passing up a gilt-edged chance to win the game for Airdrie 60 seconds later.
Wilson, Gallagher, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Craig Watson and Cammy Cooper scored in the shoot-out, but Kilby keeper Matty Connelly saved from Chris Mochrie, with David Ferguson netting the clinching spot-kick, following Cami Elliott, Jack Leitch, Lewis Spence, John Robertson and Reegan Mimnaugh.
McCabe said: “Hopefully the group and everyone uses it as a bit of a shake-up and a wake-up call.
“When you’re not on your ‘A’ game, in terms of bringing your quality on the ball, there are still basic fundamentals that you’ve got to approach in every game, at every level.
“I’m frustrated and disappointed. We wanted to win the game. We’re holders of the competition, it’s a real sense of pride – especially for me.
“I understand the little elements of confidence and stuff when the team’s not on a really great run of form or results, and we have taken that into consideration as well.
“But over the course of a 90-minute game we didn’t do enough to win, and that’s as brutally honest as I can be.
“We are a team that looks like we’re lacking in confidence, but how do you get results? Nobody’s just going to hand you three points, you have to at least put in a performance that merits getting a win.
“We didn’t deserve that, and even if we had come away and nicked a win there, it would still have felt like we got away with one.
“There was a chance to smash-and-grab, Ben Wilson is through one-on-one, and there were a couple of chances at the end, where on your day you’re ruthless.
“We’re disappointed, but take nothing away from East Kilbride, I thought they deserved it.
“I have no question that we got what we deserved.”
Injuries are mounting at New Broomfield, and full-back Mason Hancock and striker Aaron Reid have been added to that list, while Cammy Bruce took a heavy blow in Saturday’s defeat, but McCabe says that isn’t a factor.
“Injuries mean nothing, it’s not the reason we’ve lost the game,” he said. “Yes, we’re depleted in numbers in our squad, but we should have more than enough, and we certainly do have more than enough, to go and win that game.”
On their tricky trip to Firhill this weekend, McCabe said: “The boys have to look back on this game and reflect, and really take a sense of pride, and hopefully see it as a hurtful experience, because it is.
“Then we’ve got to quickly go, because there’s another game around the corner. You can’t dwell on it too much, because then you end up getting into that spiral and snowball effect.
“It’s important that when we watch the game back this week and we are back in training, everybody’s ready to go, and the full focus has to be on Partick.”
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