By ANDREW WILSON 

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Airdrieonians’ Acting Head Coach Danny Lennon insists the Diamonds players are taking inspiration from their gaffer Eddie Wolecki Black as they bid to make the play-offs against the odds.

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There was frustration around the Excelsior Stadium last Saturday as the Diamonds were held 1-1 by a battling Stenhousemuir side and lost ground in the race for fourth place in League One. 

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Ahead of this afternoon’s trip to Forfar, though, Danny took the time to tell airdriefc.com: “You can’t deny the fighting spirit that the players showed against Stenny right from the first minute to the last.

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“A lot of people have questioned our reputations in recent weeks and I feel the players showed fight and determination last week. 

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“You can see where the players get that fighting spirit from. Eddie has given them that and he’s showing huge fighting spirit himself to get back from the stroke he suffered in March. 

“It’s absolutely fantastic to see that he is on his way to making a recovery.”

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Despite looking dominant in the first half of the contest at New Broomfield, the Diamonds fell behind to a 60th minute wonder-strike courtesy of Alan Cook but bravely battled back to rescue a point with a last gasp Alan Lithgow header. 

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Danny heaped praise upon the character and fight in the Diamonds squad: “To be fair to the players, even the ones on the bench, they showed a real togetherness and never gave up on each other.

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“That fight and determination in this squad is going to be vital in the final few games as we look to put things right.”

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Airdrie now have three games remaining in which to secure fourth place and despite results not going in our favour recently, the Diamonds are still competing and will do so until the end of the season.

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Danny said: “It’s going to be a sprint finish. At this point we find ourselves behind in the race but it’s far from over.

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“That is the beautiful thing about football, you never know what might happen. Right now our focus is just to do everything we can to try and secure that play-off position.”