NO BREAK FOR BOSS MURRAY

Diamonds boss says it isn’t a free weekend

Airdrie might have been forced onto the sidelines this weekend, but boss Ian Murray says they will be far from idle.

Montrose’s 0-0 Scottish Cup third round draw at Kelty Hearts mean they host their opponents on Saturday, scrapping Airdrie’s visit there, and that match now needs to be rearranged.

Murray intends to use the unexpected hiatus to head out with his coaching team to games throughout the various leagues, looking at players in situations they might not usually be afforded.

Murray said: “We’ll have to wait and see when the rearranged date is for Montrose.

“It could be next Tuesday, a week on Tuesday, or further down the line, so once we get confirmation of that, and the rescheduling, we can re-jig our schedule a little bit.

“But there are games on all over the place, so we’ll be taking games in and watching players, perhaps, that we don’t often get the opportunity to do, in League Two and maybe Championship and stuff, so we’ll work out our dynamics as the week goes on.

“As soon as we get that confirmation we can put plans in place.”

Meanwhile, Murray says his side have made progress to be sitting second in the League One table, because usually they’re trying to catch up at this point in the season.

The Diamonds are two points behind Cove, one ahead of thirdplaced Montrose, and three above Queen’s Park, with Rangers and the Spiders both due to be in action.

But Murray says the lead will change hands repeatedly over the coming months.

He said: “It’s exceptionally tight and that comes from us all being bunched together.

“There are probably about five or six clubs at the moment within seven to nine points.

“We’re seven ahead of Alloa and we’re two off Cove, so nine points of a difference, and that’s three games, which is not a lot – plus we all play each other all the time as well.

“There will be points dropped all over the place. We’re all going to have games where we felt we had missed opportunities, and there will be games where we sometimes get a little bit of luck.

“There’s a long way to go, we’re really happy with where we are.

“At this stage we’re normally a little bit behind the curve and always looking up the way to try and catch teams, and it’s normally not just one.”

Busy Diamonds boss Ian Murray