Title-chasing Airdrie won’t let their 6-0 League One hammering by FC Edinburgh derail their season, according to defender Craig Watson.
The 27-year-old says boss Rhys McCabe locked the players in the dressing room for a frank exchange of views, and they’re going to try and use it as a positive, to learn from their experience.
A 6-0 defeat was a horrible way for the Diamonds to end their proud 25-game unbeaten run in League One, and it dropped them down to fourth, but Watson says the title is still their target.
He said: “It’s one defeat in 26. It’s annoying it had to end in that fashion, especially with how the game started, and all credit to Edinburgh.
“But we want to be challenging for the title, so you need to be beating teams at home, and it’s a real kick in the teeth.
“We all spoke, we voiced our opinion after the game, and we’re just going to do our best to try and turn it into a positive, not to let it define anything.
“We’ve just got to roll our sleeves up, face it, take any criticism that comes our way and we’ve got to learn from it.
“It’s now about how we react and respond to that.
“There’s good character amongst the squad and although that took a bit of a dent on Saturday, I’m sure everybody will be back in at training, raring to go.
“We’ll get it out of our system, get a good week’s training in and we’ll be right up for it at Montrose on Saturday.
“There’s nothing really else you can do, you know?”
Airdrie are now three points adrift of leaders Dunfermline after the first six games of the season. Should games go ahead this weekend following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, they will head for third-placed Montrose on Saturday, knowing a win can take them above their hosts and potentially back on top of League One.
Watson reckons it’s as big a test as they could have, against a side that consistently reaches the play-offs.
He added: “It’s a tough place to go.
“They’re always really well organised, they’ve got good players, they’re always in and around that play-off spot, so you can tell how your season is going based on how you’re doing against Montrose – they’re that type of team.
“It’s stuffy when you go up there, so it’s so important for us to get back to winning ways.
“We can’t let it affect our mentality too much, the fact that we took a heavy defeat, especially at home.”
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