Airdrie boss blasts "unacceptable" display after Hamilton Accies inflict derby thrashing

Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe branded their derby capitulation to Hamilton Accies "unacceptable" after they feel to a fourth straight league defeat.

Rock-bottom Diamonds remain four points adrift at the foot of the Championship after a nightmare at New Broomfield on Saturday.

They were 2-0 down inside nine minutes after a Connor Smith strike and a Sam Graham own goal left the hosts shell-shocked.

It didn't get much better in the second half, as Kevin O'Hara and Dylan McGowan sealed Hamilton's best win in Monklands for 12 years.

And the Diamonds player-boss admitted they were fortunate not to be on the end of a heavier defeat.

McCabe did not appear post-match to speak to the press, but he told the club's TV channel: "I'm bitterly disappointed. I thought the way we started the game and our defending today was unacceptable.

"It is difficult [to know what went wrong] because it was certainly not the instruction from the side or certainly not our prep for the game.

"If I am being totally generous, we were lucky to be two down at half-time. I was more worried about the transitions when we had the ball because there were three or four instances where Hamilton had a counter attack and they were breaking on us 4v2 and 3v1.

"On another day, if they picked the right option, they could have put us to bed easier. We can sugar coat it as much as we like, but conceding that amount of goals, being sloppy in defending isn't on."

McCabe also vented his frustration at his side failing to do the basics right in recent weeks, with the club on a run of one win in their last 14 games.

He added: "Things didn't go our way and that is football. It is a simple game made hard sometimes. I try to simplify things for the boys but it is the basics. How do