Airdrie player-boss Rhys McCabe admits their derby defeat to Hamilton was their sorest of the season.
Rock-bottom Airdrie are now 18 games without a win and 10 points adrift of nearest rivals Dunfermline at the bottom of the table following a last-gasp defeat to their Lanarkshire rivals at New Douglas Park.
The Diamonds were deserving of at least a point after a thrilling clash, which saw them twice peg Accies back in the first half through a Chris Mochrie header and a Gavin Gallagher strike to cancel out goals from Oli Shaw and Stuart McKinstry.
However, in second-half stoppage time, Hamilton piled on the pressure and Airdrie finally caved when Reghan Tumilty’s cut-back was turned home by Shaw in the six-yard box.
And McCabe said: “The timing of the goal makes it a bitter pill to swallow. It’s probably the sorest one of the season because of the timing and it being a derby.
“If we’d come away at 2-2 or if we’d nicked it 3-2, there’d be no complaints. And there’s no real complaints that Hamilton have nicked it because it was one of those that was a good game for the neutral.
“It is about capitalising when you are on top and putting teams to the sword. We had opportunities to do that, but we weren’t ruthless.
“We managed to get back in the game through two real bits of quality and then we started the second half really brightly. We had opportunities to capitalise on and potentially get that third or fourth goal that could kill the game and put it to bed.
“But the longer you don’t take your chances, the momentum swings back and forth and we were then just hoping we could see it out.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Diamonds, with league leaders Falkirk up next on Friday night to kick-off 2025.