Boss Ian Murray says Airdrie were hit by injuries as they slumped to defeat against play-off hopefuls Montrose.
Graham Webster’s penalty proved to be decisive as The Gable Endies close the gap on the promotion spots.
There were some raised eyebrows from the Diamonds support who made the trip to Links Park as leading scorers Dale Carrick and Calum Gallagher sat out as unused substitutes.
The gaffer defended his decision insisting that there were several crocked players having to fill spots on the bench.
He told Lanarkshire Live Sport : “I think it’s very easy for the fans to look to the bench and look at the starting team then think there should be changes.
“Fans look at it short term but we have guys who can’t start because they have knocks.
“We have to think of the long-term. If we play them against Montrose, they might add something or they might not but they could make that knock worse and be out for the next nine games.
“We have to make the decisions that try to get the team ready for the next nine games at least.
“It’s the same every single season at every club that there are injuries that accumulate at this point in the season.
“Our players on the bench like Ally Roy, Sean Crighton, Calum Gallagher, Dale Carrick, Dean Hawkshaw; all seven of our players on the bench could have arguably been starters.
“It might not look like it on paper but our squad is low on numbers right now.”
Following the loss in Angus, Montrose sit just four points behind the New Broomfield outfit with only eight points separating the top five in League One.
Murray says solidifying the play-off spot is now his aim before he thinks about a title tilt.
“It’s definitely a tough one on the players to lose to one of your rivals for the top four put I don’t think it was a particularly poor performance,” said the gaffer.
“We maybe didn’t deserve to go behind when we did and we had plenty of possession. We huffed and puffed but we didn’t really create anything that tested their goalkeeper.
“It makes the league really tight now between the top five teams in the league. We’re disappointed to lose the last game of the quarter, it would have been great to end on a positive.
“There are nine games and the players will do all they can do to keep the challenge going; it’s that time of year where you need to be not losing games.”
He continued: “The league this season is absolutely bonkers.
“I believe it will go all the way to the end to decide who is going to win the league and be in those promotion places.
“We can only look after ourselves and that’s who I will be concentrating on.
“If we can make sure of our play-off place in the next three or four weeks then we have nothing to lose; we can go all out in those final weeks whether that is for the title or for promotion through the play-offs.”
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