FC Edinburgh boss Alan Maybury thrilled with players' character after 3-1 victory over Airdrie

FC Edinburgh boss Alan Maybury praised the mentality of his players as the Citizens registered a fine 3-1 victory over Airdrie at Meadowbank this afternoon.

The Capital men, who were smarting from last weekend's last-gasp defeat to Dunfermline, deserved maximum points to move to within a point of the Fifers at the top of League One.

Goals from Danny Handling, Ouzy See and substitute Emmanuel Johnson, the visitors briefly restoring parity through Lewis Jamieson two minutes into the second half, sealed Edinburgh's eighth win for what has been a fantastic start to life in Scottish football's third tier.

"Listen we didn't maybe play enough at Dunfermline last week but there were a lot of human elements that came into it," Maybury explained. "For some it was the first time to East End Park and in front of more than 4,000 so it was a new challenge. But you have to go through all these things to be able to cope with it moving forward. We were just maybe a wee bit tentative. But it's great to bounce back at the first time of asking and that's all I'm asking from the players is to show that belief.

Danny Handling netted FC Edinburgh's first goal in a 3-1 win over Airdrie. Picture: Tommy Lee.

"It was a good but frustrating match with Airdrie. We scored a really good goal and then we were happy to settle for that a little bit and lost our way. We've got to recognise what's dangerous and what's not. I tried to sort things at half-time and then we give away a goal. We settled down again and forced more pressure higher up the pitch and that paid off with Ouzy's strike. We managed the game well after that, Robbie (Mutch) has had to make a couple of saves, but we probably should have scored more. I was happy for EJ to get on the scoresheet as it's been difficult recently for him to find a way into the team. But he's come on and made a difference."

And although Falkirk slipped up at home to Kelty Hearts and Dunfermline went down at Montrose, Maybury is remaining grounded.

"I've given up looking at other clubs' results," he said. "They'll do what they do and we'll do what we do. The results elsewhere have worked in our favour but we need to go on another run and put some wins together. I know where we need to get to and what we're trying to do so we'll always try to go out and win games as that's what we've done all season.

"We're a third of the way in so to be sitting where we are I am delighted. It's credit to the players with the work they're doing and buying into what we want to achieve. There are no prizes given out in October so I just need to keep pushing them on.

"We try and be as positive as we can and create. We've got good options in the final third and each of them have their own attributes. It's about trying to find the right combination. Ouzy has been good in stretching the game, Danny has got a bit more guile about him and we've got John (Robertson) and Ryan (Shanley), who is probably the best finisher, so it's just about getting him into the right areas. Generally, we don't give a lot away and we score goals so it's a good place to be."

FC Edinburgh: Mutch, MacDonald, Brydon, See (Shanley 60, Johnson 89), Handling (Robertson 81), Jacobs (McIntyre 81), Fontaine, Murray, Delferriere, Craigen, Crane. Subs: Ramsbottom.

Airdrie: Lyness, Watson, McCabe, Fordyce, Taylor-Sinclair (Deveney 88) McMaster, Telfer, McGill (Jamieson 10), Devenny, Smith, Gallagher. Subs: Henderson, Gunn, Fellows.

Referee: Graham Beaton.

Attendance: 462.