Stars settle in well

Diamonds defender Kerr praises signings

Defender Josh Kerr reckons Airdrieonians’ new glamour signings are handling the steep Scottish football learning curve well.

The Diamonds caught the eye when they snapped up Thomas Robert from Montpellier and Griffin Sabatini from Dnipro.

Now they are back in training at New Broomfield, Kerr reckons the new European stars have settled in well in Monklands alongside former teammate Eoghan Stokes.

“You won’t get as much time on the ball as you would in European leagues,” he said. “It’s a bit more hustle and bustle here.

“They are learning quickly though considering we have only been back in for a couple of weeks.

“They are going to pick it up. It’s the same as if we had boys going abroad; it will take you time to adjust.

“We’ve got to give the boys that time but they are doing well so far.

“I played with Eoghan Stokes in Derry as well and it’s maybe a bit less of a jump between the Scottish and Irish game.”

With Partick Thistle, Falkirk and newly promoted Cove Rangers looking like title contenders, Kerr admits the side can’t afford a hangover from the curtailed campaign last season.

They will return to action this weekend as they face Lowland League champions Kelty Hearts in a friendly and the centre-back wants to hit the ground running.

“I felt we had a real chance last season,” he continued.

“We were six points off, and had to play both of them, and they still had to play each other on the final day.

“We were starting to get momentum as well, so if we had to go back and finish the games I think we would have benefitted from it.

“I think the other teams wanted to see the finish line as soon as we could, but it’s out of our control and we can’t dwell on it.”

“We’ve had a lot of boys stay on who got close last season, so we just have to go and carry on that momentum.

“It’s a brand new season but you’ve got to hurt a bit that you didn’t go up – that’s natural.”

On the title rivals, he added: “We have to look after ourselves.

“There will be boys in those dressing rooms looking at how we have strengthened. We are going in confident.

“We have got to try and go for the title; we can’t settle for second, third or fourth. We want to have a good shot at it. Every point is going to be vital this season.”

Back to work Josh Kerr