Ian Murray has blasted the SPFL's "stupid and ridiculous" play-off schedule for lower league sides after his exhausted Airdrie side suffered a heartbreaking extra-time defeat to Queen's Park in the Championship final.
And the Diamonds gaffer is calling on league bosses to take players' welfare into account after the finalists played four games in under two weeks, with just over 48 hours between both legs of the final.
Having played extra-time against Montrose in the semi-final second leg win on May 7, Airdrie then drew 1-1 with Spiders on Thursday night before a 1.10pm kick-off on Sunday afternoon in the second leg ended in a 2-1 defeat after extra-time.
It left both sides dead on their feet at New Broomfield after such a tight turnaround.
And while Murray has no qualms with the result, he insists some league matches could be played in midweek during the season to lighten the load when it comes to crunch time in campaigns.
He said: "Our boys were tired and they've worked tirelessly all season.
"We've had to win every single game since Christmas to stay in touch with Cove Rangers [the League One champions].
"That takes a lot out of people mentally and physically.
"We missed out on the title in the second last week of the season, then tried to recover the boys.
"But the thing I would say - and I said this to people after the Montrose game - is the time they [the SPFL] give us, asking us to go into high pressure, hard games, is just so stupid and ridiculous.
"We've got a whole season to play midweek games and for some reason we cater to the team above every single time.
"They need to look at that.
"For the Premiership final, the teams get a week's rest, but we never had that and, for the life of me, I don't know why.
"It's so important. We go on about players' welfare mentally but they don't think about it physically sometimes.
"Teams at this level run with small squads. We need time to recover and recuperate, get guys mentally ready by getting them down from the ceiling or picking them up off the floor.
"It's a no-brainer and easy for me to sort out - just play a couple of midweek games in the season.
"They won't do it for whatever reason.
"I know it's hard with fixtures because TV schedules dictate, but come on, television can't dictate at this level.
"Just a week, 10 days. Just a break. We are not asking for three weeks, a month or a mid-season break.
"Just give the players on both sides a chance."
In extra-time a tired tackle from Dylan Easton handed Queen's Park a penalty with just eight minutes remaining and Simon Murray scored to send Spiders up.
Murray, whose side finished 21 points ahead of Spiders in League One, added: "You could see at the end of that game both sets of players were out on their feet and it was going to take a penalty, a set-piece or a bad decision to decide it because the prize is so big.
"But huge congratulations to Queen's Park. They've hung in there all season, they are a very stuffy side and hard to beat.
"We just need to take it on the chin and come back next season."
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