Ian Murray admits it’s never nice to lose a game after Airdrie suffered a 3-0 defeat to Clyde in the NL Cup final.
Airdrie were much better in the second half but as they pushed forward in search of a late lifeline, David Goodwillie added a third for Clyde with a majestic chip.
Diamonds boss Murray had to rotate his squad for their second game in two days but he still wasn’t happy with the result.
“You never like to lose, especially when it's 3-0,” Murray said. “There are reasons for that but overall, Clyde were the better team in the first half and they deserved their lead.
“But I felt that we were the better team after the break but they took their chance and we didn’t.
“They had some great movement off the ball and plenty of options.
“It’s all about preparing for the start of the season and we will be happy when the cup starts next week.
“We need to be better than we were today and I’ve told the players that.
"If we replicate the first-half performance then we will get beat but if we played like we did after the break then we will win.
“It was the last weekend before the season properly starts and we had to leave some guys out because it’s two games on the bounce.
“We had some boys playing that I didn’t intend to play for the full ninety minutes but I had to with how the game panned out.
“They will need a rest now so it’s not an absolute nightmare in terms of scheduling but playing on Friday night and then Sunday would have been better.”
The introduction of Dylan Easton at half-time seemed to be the catalyst for Airdrie’s improvement in the second half.
While the Diamonds boss knows that the former Kelty Hearts man is a fantastic talent, Murray insists he needs to improve in aspects of his game.
He added: "Dylan had five shots but he also almost lost us two goals by losing the ball high up the park.
"That can’t happen and Dylan knows that but we will work on that.
“But in terms of his trickery and excitement, he is exceptional.”
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