Airdrie have 'once in a lifetime' chance after Hamilton punishment, says Hancock (2025)

But the defender reckons it affected the team during Saturday's defeat to Morton

Airdrie defender Mason Hancock says the club have been given a 'once in a lifetime' chance following Hamilton Accies' 15-point deduction.

But he admits news of their rivals' SPFL punishment impacted their performance in Saturday's defeat to Morton.

The Diamonds were sitting rock bottom and looked doomed until Thursday's announcement that Accies were being docked 15 points and fined £9,000 for multiple SPFL breaches.

That sent Accies to the bottom of the table and lifted Airdrie up into the relegation play-off spot.

Saturday's clash with Morton provided the chance for Airdrie to close the gap on those above them, but a Tomi Adeloye strike in the first half inflicted a 1-0 defeat that has left them destined for the play-offs, at best.

John Rankin's Accies were relegated on Saturday, subject to their appeal of the judgement, while Airdrie are now sitting seven points clear of Hamilton with two games to go.

Hancock admits it is a potentially huge reprieve for the Diamonds, but felt it led to a lacklustre display against Ton.

He said: "You don't need to be Einstein to figure out how we were feeling when we heard the news. It was a great feeling and a bit of luck is what we feel we've been needing all season and it has come our way.

"But it means nothing when you go and perform like that a couple of days later.

"It has obviously affected the boys' heads. When you watch that game, you can see we were not ourselves. There was no life in our play.

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"We worked on things in the week and we didn't apply it to the game, it is frustrating.

"There was a lot of noise coming into this game and we've been gifted a chance - a once in a lifetime chance - to stay in this division.

"I am focused on my own mind, I can't control other boys' minds, but something went wrong out there. Whether it is a mentality thing or fitness, I can't lay a finger on it.

"But something didn't gel today. I thought we were flat, there was no purpose in the way we played and we didn't take on our information from the manager in training, so it is a deserved loss.

"It is up to six points now [from nearest rivals Queen's Park] and we are way behind on goal difference, but you can never say never at the end of the day. We will go and fight in the next two games, we won't give up and just wait for the play-offs.

"It looks like we are going to do it the hard way [to stay up]. There's some angry boys in there, but if you told us in January we were going to have a fighting chance of the play-offs, then we would have taken it."

The Diamonds were sitting a massive 13 points adrift at the foot of the table in January and recent results had given their hope of pulling off a great escape, even before Hamilton's punishment.

Hancock added: "It has been a great fightback. Everyone away from this building wrote us off. But we believed and we still believe going into these next few games.

"We feel there was a great chance to grab that seventh or eighth spot, but we've really let ourselves down today."

Airdrie head to seventh-place Dunfermline on Saturday and then host Ayr United in the final match on Friday, May 2.

They will remain in limbo while Hamilton's appeal is heard and the outcome of that is expected ahead of the final fixture round of the season.

"Some clarity would be nice, but at the end of the day it is none of our business," said Hancock. "We have been handed a lifeline and we are looking to take it.

"There's no fear in this team and I feel we've learned quickly as the season has gone on and we will, hopefully, take that into the play-offs."