Airdrie v Ayr Utd: Back to the drawing board for league scrap, says Diamonds boss

Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe says it’s back to the drawing board for his battle-weary stars as Ayr United come calling in the Championship this weekend

The Diamonds were thumped 4-1 by Premiership high-fliers Hearts in the Scottish Cup fifth round on Sunday, with a Lawrence Shankland double either side of goals from Kenneth Vargas and Calem Nieuwenhof.

Mason Hancock hit the bar early on and captain Adam Frizzell pulled a goal back at 3-1 with a header in 34 minutes, but ultimately Airdrie were left empty-handed as the Edinburgh giants went on to book a quarter-final slot against Morton at Cappielow.

Ayr have been given a lift with the appointment of former Celtic captain Scott Brown and are sitting two places and as many points behind in seventh as the Diamonds chase a play-off slot.

McCabe said: “It’s back to the drawing board. Even if we had won, it would have been the same thing.

“The boys enjoy the wins and you’re disappointed with the defeats, but I always say to never get too high or low, because of how quickly you can be brought back down to earth when you start getting a few good results.

“You can also pick up a result out of nowhere and it propels you up the league.

“Our bread and butter is the league, we’ve know that for a large period of time, so we’ve got to make sure we rest up and look forward to Ayr United.

“The target is the play-off, we’re going to have a few games in hand because of the cup competition, so we’ve got to make sure we recover, try to claw these points back, and try to make full advantage of them.”

McCabe was left wondering what might have been against Hearts on Sunday, but the Tynecastle side hit them hard and fast in the first half to put the tie out of reach.

“Hearts are a good side, we know