AIRDRIEWANT NEW SIGNINGS

Murray targets duo ahead of Scottish Cup tie

Ian Murray says he is not giving up on bringing Kerr Mcinroy back on loan from Celtic, as he revealed he hopes to bolster his Airdrie squad ahead of their Scottish Cup tie with Partick Thistle.

The club remain in dialogue with Celtic over the potential return of midfielder Mcinroy, who was a huge hit with the manager and fans during the first part of the season, while they also hope to sign two new stars.

Murray said: “We are in constant contact with Celtic and with Kerr. If we can get him on something until the end of the season we’d be delighted with that.

“But the ball is in Kerr’s court. “He’s Celtic’s player right now, but they know where we are. “It’s got to work for everyone.”

The Diamonds have recently extended the loan deal of midfielder Scott Mcgill from Hearts until the end of the season, while defender Rico Quitongo has been released from his contract.

And Murray revealed he’s expecting further changes at New Broomfield in the coming days.

He said: “We really trust the guys that are in this team and we are happy enough with where we are at, but we would like just a couple more bodies and I’m sure we will get them this week.

“Any new player that comes in has to improve us.

“That’s the difficult part when the boys have done so well. Who do we bring in that is going to help us?

“But we have a couple in mind. “We know we are a bit light up front at the moment. We know we are a wee bit light in the full-back positions.

“We are well-covered in midfield, but the way we play we are always looking for a little spark in the there, a player who can move it about a bit.

“We’d like to add a forward type player and possibly a defender as well - but we are not going to go crazy.”

Meanwhile, Murray hopes his Diamonds can mark the lifting of crowd restrictions with a memorable Scottish Cup win at Partick Thistle this weekend.

And he insists all the pressure will be on the Jags for the fourth round tie with the Championships side “heavy favourites”.

Murray’s men go into the Firhill clash off the back of five straight wins in League One, despite struggling with a number of Covid absences in recent weeks, including the manager. That

recent success does give Murray hope of pulling off a cup shock and he says it would be the perfect tonic for fans, who have missed out lately due to crowds being limited to 500 spectators amid Covid restrictions.

Murray said: “It’s a fantastic occasion for us to be in this round again.

”It will be Thistle’s first home game since the restrictions were lifted so I’m sure they will get a good crowd in.

“Hopefully we take a good support because it’s not too far down the road, and we can go there and give a good account of ourselves against a very good Championship side.

“We go into that with no pressure. “Go and enjoy the day and the occasion.

“But in football we know you only really enjoy the day if you do well.

“We battled last year against them in League One and we came up a little bit short, which was expected because they had bigger armoury to work with than us.

”But we go there with no pressure. “The pressure is all on Thistle and that’s not to make it difficult for them.

“I’m pretty sure they will think they are heavy favourites for it as well.

“We go there believing we can win it though.

“That’s why you play football.

“You take to the pitch believing you can get a result and hopefully we can do that for our supporters.”

Kick-off at Firhill on Saturday is 3pm.

Hopeful Murray expects to sign stars