ZERO to hero defender Chris Higgins helped Ayr United overcome Albion Rovers in a cliffhanger to keep their amazing run of form going.,

The Honest Men have now gone 11 games unbeaten following the 3-2 victory against the Coatbridge side, who are much improved from the side Ayr defeated 5-1 at Cliftonhill in the opening day of the season.

Honest Higgins held up his hand and admitted he had been at fault for the opening goal but gained considerable redemption by scoring the winner.

He said afterwards: "From my point of view I made a bit of a mess of it for their first goal. I decided to take command of the situation,m the ball didn't bounce properly and I sclaffed it. I was glad to get the winner in the end and thankfully that made up for it. I would say was an off day for me but to go and score the winner feels good and makes up for the mistake. It was a terrific ball from Alan Forrest for the goal. Conditions were difficult and we had to work hard on it. We managed to get three points and that's what is was all about. Albion are a good side who are in seventh but to me it's a false position,"

He added: "It's a massive three points after we got a last minute winner at Alloa. Albion are a good team with experience but we had to dig in, as you especially have to do in the winter months."

Former Motherwell man Higgins his delighted with the team's progress but cautioned: "We are in a good position but it's a long season and there's a long way to go."

Manager Ian McCall said: "We got there but we had to change the team when Craig Moore had to come off with a hamstring. But we were without Andy Geggan, Ross Docherty (who went off injured), Paddy Boyle and Crawford who are huge players for us.

"It was a good three points and at 1-0 we looked very much control and seemed a matter of time before we got our second - we hit the post twice. I am very proud of thow they have defended.

"We have had four or five clean sheets in eight games but have to get back to that. "

He added: Hopefully Crawford and Boyle might be back for the weekend. It was a really big three points although I would have liked to have made it more comfortable. Albion Rovers will take points off teams away from home as they have been."

"I felt Declan McDaid, Craig McGuffie and Alan Forrest all did well when they came on."

United on Saturday host Queens Park and will be looking for a second win against the Spiders following their 2-0 win at Hampden back in September.