Black was named manager of the month in Division One

Kenny Black does not know what the future holds for him at Airdrie United after Saturday's play-off defeat consigned the club to relegation.

"We will let the dust settle," he told BBC Scotland after the 3-1 aggregate defeat by Brechin City.

"My family are still in England and I have not seen them for about a month.

"That result, I never saw it coming. I am going to go home and look forward to seeing my family and we will take the next step from there."

The 46-year-old former Hearts and Rangers midfielder, who was Craig Levein's assistant with Leicester City, has been in charge at Excelsior Stadium since 2007.

It was third time unlucky for Airdrie, who were saved from the drop last term following Livingston's demotion to Division Three for financial reasons a year after they were spared because Gretna went out of business.

I am as disappointed as I have ever been for a very long time Airdrie United manager Kenny Black

Black had started last summer's transfer window building a squad for Division Two before being forced to change his plans after Livingston's fate was decided.

"It's difficult because of the restraints here, but it is a really, really hard one for us to take," he said.

Airdrie had looked destined for automatic relegation until four wins and only one defeat in seven games during April ended with them overhauling Ayr United.

That led to Black receiving an Irn Bru award as manager of the month in Division One hours before the match against Brechin.

And he could not believe that the day had ended in disappointment as the Angus part-timers progressed to the play-off final against Cowdenbeath thanks to a fine Rory McAllister strike.

"I was really disappointed with the performance on Wednesday," said Black, whose side lost 2-1 at Glebe Park in the first leg. "We played a bit better, especially in the first half.

"But we have lost two games against Brechin, who finished fourth in the Second Division.

"To get into the play-offs was remarkable, so maybe it was just a couple of games too far.

"We have not done well enough all season and we deserve what we have got."

Black, like the home support, believed that a Scott McLaughlin shot had crossed the line in the first half and that they ought to have had a penalty for a hand ball on the line.

"Maybe that was the sign that it was not going to be our day," he said.

"To balance that up, we had a really poor performance on Wednesday and we could have easily lost the game three or four one to Brechin."

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