Airdrie had an eye on "huge" play-offs, admits boss Rhys McCabe, as unbeaten run ends

Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe admitted his side had more than an eye on the Championship play-offs as they slumped to a 3-1 defeat at home to Queen of the South this afternoon.

The Diamonds are guaranteed a play-off semi-final slot, but their player-boss was disappointed that their seven-game unbeaten run came to an end.

Sub Salim Kouider-Aissa bagged what turned out to be a consolation goal, with Harry Cochrane and Euan East putting the visitors 2-0 up in the first half, before Ruari Paton sored a scorching free kick to seal the points.

McCabe, who substituted himself at half-time to throw in Dean McMaster, said: "We're disappointed with the result because we wanted to finish the season on that unbeaten run that we were on, but we'll look to rectify that and go again next week.

"It's never easy. You're making a couple of changes, going into the game hoping for no injuries, going into such a big game, into the play-offs.

"You'd probably need to ask them individually [if they had an eye on the play-offs] but from a management point of view you've always got one eye on those games, hoping everyone comes through it OK and you've not got any injuries.

"We were a wee bit better in the second half in terms of performance levels, but in the first half it was hard to get to grips with.

"It's about keeping that momentum and recovering well, but everyone's OK."

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