Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Airdrie look to hit ground running
Airdrie boss Ian Murray says last season’s run to the play-off final can help his side as they target the League One crown.
The fixtures for the forthcoming season were revealed last week, handing the Diamonds a home start against last season’s play-off rivals Montrose.
But Murray also wants to enjoy a decent run in the Premier Sports Cup to make up for disappointment in last season’s competition.
The Diamonds clash with Motherwell, Annan, Queen of the South and Queen’s Park in Group F, before hosting Montrose in their league opener on July 31, and Murray says everybody’s eager to get back into it.
“I think for two years in a row now we’ve been at home,” he said. “We won the opening game last season and we’ll look to do the same.
“It will be a very hard game, but that’s the case for Montrose as well, and everyone wants to start the season.
“Everybody’s excited, there’s anticipation and nervous energy, new players and all the rest of it, and hopefully fans will be allowed in again.
“It’s a good opening-day fixture for both clubs, it’s very difficult, but when you look at the league as a whole and the fixtures that are out, there’s never an easy game.
“I hope we can go a stage further this season and win the league.
“As I keep preaching to people and boring people, it takes time and where we’ve came from to where we finished last year, albeit in a shortened season, was pretty good.
“To go into the play-offs for the first time in, I think, four or five years and try to win them is hard, but the experience of losing that, of getting there and the whole occasion will stand us in good stead, we hope, if we could be there again – but we want to go one better, there’s no question, and try to win the league.
“But if you ask the Falkirk, East Fife, Montrose and Cove Rangers managers, they’ll say the same.”
Murray is preparing his squad to face Cumbernauld Colts in their North Lanarkshire Cup semi-final on July 3, with another game against either Albion Rovers or Clyde on the Sunday, before heading into that League Cup section, and Murray is looking forward to it all.
“We’ve been back now for a couple of sessions,” he said.
“Some have come in a wee bit later than others, due to the play-offs guys have played a lot of games in such a short time, but they’re all back now as well, and we’re getting ready for the pre-season tournament down in Cumbernauld.
“The Cumbernauld tournament is excellent, it’s down the road, good opposition on a good pitch and the double-header on the Saturday and Sunday gives us a chance to look at people and give them plenty of gametime as well.
“I’m really happy we have that – having the two games helps massively over the two days.
“The games are coming thick and fast, it’s hectic, it’s hard, but that’s the way it is and the way it has been for the last few years, so we’ll get on with it.
“It’s a really good League Cup group again, and we’ve always had really hard groups but it’s good, it gets players ready for the opening day.
“We want to take some points out of the group section.
“I felt we were poor last season in the League Cup, to be honest, and this season we want to be a bit better.
“Of course the league is our main priority, absolutely, but we wee cup run would do no harm to anybody.”