Dundee United were ruthless, we need to show same qualities, says Airdrie's Charlie Telfer

Airdrie midfielder Charlie Telfer admits they need to take a leaf out of Dundee United's book and become more ruthless if they are to get themselves back up the Championship table.

The Diamonds put in an impressive display against the league leaders once again, but were left with a feeling of deja vu as they suffered a repeat of August's 2-0 scoreline last night.

Telfer was left frustrated as the Diamonds passed up some big opportunities, notably in the first half when Lewis McGregor was denied and Adam Frizzell had a big chance blocked, and then watched United pounce to score two of their five shots on target.

Kai Fotheringham netted in either half to keep United at the summit and send Airdrie down to fifth.

Telfer feels there isn't much between the sides but they need to find the ruthless streak that Jim Goodwin's men have shown in their pursuit to get straight back to the Premiership.

"It is just another tale of us not taking chances or being ruthless enough," Telfer told the club media.

"That's not putting blame on anyone in particular, it's all of us.

"We need to be ruthless and they were ruthless.

"I don't think they had many chances, but they scored two goals.

"It just shows why they are up there and we are not getting results of late.

"It is really frustrating. It just takes a wee bit of luck and hopefully it will turn.

"We believe in what we are doing. In the first half especially, you wouldn't have known who was top of the league.

"It's about putting a full performance in over 90 minutes.

"I don't think we defended badly, it was just wee mistakes and losing the ball in wrong areas.

"We can take positives but there is a lot of negatives that we need to rectify."

Airdrie have now gone four games without a win and