Iain Russell insists Airdrieonians' pursuit of his former club Livingston is not a trivial one.
The 2-0 defeat at Almondvale on Saturday left his new team ten points behind the leaders after everything had looked so promising earlier this month.
A run of six successive league victories put some pressure on the leaders but those days seem long gone after Dale Carrick and Nicky Cadden put Airdrieonians to the sword in a game of few chances.
"We came in on a decent run and there has not been too much over the games between the two teams but I think Livingston have got a bit better quality in the final third and again that proved today," he said.
"There was not much in the game - two chances and the two goals they scored.
"I came to Airdrie to win the league, we have had a very hard season.
"We have had a lot of knocks including the match with Stenhousemuir [0-5]. With losing the manager we have had a lot of ups and downs.
"But Airdrie have just turned full-time and a lot of young players here have not played a lot of senior football.
"It is good to be part of this Airdrie side, to be part of something new. Obviously, Livingston have the
experience and they have players that have won this league as well.
"They are always going to be ahead of us and it is up to us to learn. There is still a long way to go. "Livingston now have ten points but we will not give
up. We have clawed it back to one point before and hopefully with the turn of the year we can do that again."
Brechin City moved into third place with their 2-0 win over Stranraer with Connor McLennan, on loan from Aberdeen, marking his debut with the second goal.
But manager Darren Dods has mounting injury concerns with both goalkeeper Graeme Smith and defender Darren McCormack having to go off in the first half.
Peterhead manager Jim McInally described his side's display in the 2-0 defeat at East Fife as "utter garbage" as their opponents leapfrogged them in the table.
Greig Spence collected his 16th goal of the season as Alloa Athletic forced a 1-1 draw at Queen's Park and bottom-of-the-table Stenhousemuir beat Albion Rovers 1-0 thanks to a strike from Willis Furtado.
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