Airdrie boss knows Cove Rangers collapse required for title win as he hails spirit of 10 men in win over Dumbarton

Ian Murray praised Airdrie's character as they saw off Dumbarton with 10 men to deny Cove Rangers a title party and keep slim hopes of lifting the crown themselves alive.

An 88th minute strike from substitute Jordan Allan earned the Diamonds a 3-2 victory, having played with 10 men for 50 minutes at New Broomfield after Adam Frizzell's controversial red card.

Goals from Dylan Easton and Calum Gallagher had Airdrie in control but Sons pulled level after a George Stanger header and a Rhys McCabe header set up the grand finale.

Murray was delighted with the spirit his side showed to make it 18 games unbeaten and stay within five points of leaders Cove with two games to play.

But he knows only a colossal collapse will see his side lift the title now as he also praised the champions-elect for their incredible 24-game undefeated streak in a contest that he believes has brought the best out of both clubs in the top two.

Murray said: "It was one of those days when you think the world is against you.

"We let in a really soft goal for the first one. We were really disappointed with that and we spoke about that at half-time.

"The second goal is an own goal. There is a wee bit of miscommunication and you start to think: here we go, this is not our day.

"But the players hung in, did really well and I felt we always looked dangerous going forward.

"What got us the win today was staying calm and our work-rate.

"When we've taken a knock in games we've recovered and bounced back really well.

"We had 10 men for 50-55 minutes and the boys showed that we can play football, but we can dig in a little bit as well.

"That's a huge positive from today.

"We didn't have much of the ball in the second half but we looked like the more dangerous