Livingston boss Davie Martindale felt 3-0 flattered his Lions after they defeated rock bottom Airdrie to move within two points of leaders Falkirk at the top of the Championship.

A Stevie May double and a strike from Matty Clarke gave Livi all three points in North Lanarkshire, as they backed up Friday night’s 2-0 win over Partick Thistle.

And it cut the gap at the summit ahead of Livi hosting fellow title challengers Ayr United on Saturday.

But boss Martindale wasn’t happy with the start they made at New Broomfield.

He said: “We had a bit more quality at the top end of the mark but there wasn’t much in it overall.

“We were more clinical than them, but I thought 3-0 flattered us as we were a wee bit slack in the first 20 minutes.

“Airdrie connected the game very well but I know they’re short of bodies and they struggled a wee bit at the top end.”

Livingston’s Stevie May celebrates with Tete Yengi (L) and Robbie Muirhead as he scores to make it 1-0

May opened the scoring for the visitors in 35 minutes, when he hammered in a low cross from Tete Yengi.

They doubled their lead in the 56th minute when Clarke headed home from a McAlear corner.

And May sealed it in 67 minutes when he got on the end Daniel Finlayson’s cross to score.

Defender Clarke netted his second goal of the season and was pleased to contribute at both ends of the park.

He said: “It’s a good result. It was important that we came here after a good performance on Friday night and backed that up with another three points.

“There’s areas where we probably could have been a bit better, but to come away from home and score three goals and keep a clean sheet, we couldn’t have asked for more before a ball was kicked.

Airdrieonians player/manager Rhys McCabe and Livingston Manager David Martindale at full time

“You can’t take any opposition in this league lightly. Every game we’ve played has been very competitive. Airdrie have a lot of quality as well.

“There’s a few of the boys telling me I should have a few more goals already this season, but it’s nice to get a goal. I want to chip in with goals and assists so it is a positive night to get on the scoresheet and keep a clean sheet.”

On the clash with Ayr, he added: “It has been a massive week so far and we have another massive game now..

“They are another quality team and we’ll be looking to back up these two positive results.”

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