Rohan Ferguson feels that his young Diamonds team-mates can make the most of their opportunity to sparkle in the first team.

​

The Airdrie goalkeeper is no veteran, but with 50 top team appearances already he finds himself one of the more experienced names on the team-sheet.

​

The Diamonds welcome Arbroath to New Broomfield on Saturday, having gone down 2-1 to newly-promoted Forfar in their opening league fixture last weekend.

​

Ferguson thinks Airdrie can feel a little hard done by.

​

"I thought we played well in spells, but Forfar have just been promoted with an experienced squad so we knew it was going to be a difficult game.

​

"We weren't short on effort, and we're working hard on training to rectify the things that we could have done better."

​

Arbroath are the other newcomers from League Two, having pipped Forfar to the title on the last day of the season, and Ferguson thinks that Saturday will be equally challenging.

​

"Arbroath will be flying after coming up as champions and getting off to a winning start last week.

​

"They'll be buzzing to be playing in a higher league, but if we play to our strengths I'm confident we can do well and hopefully get the win."

​

 

At just 19 years old, Rohan's recent fiftieth appearance in the Airdrie first team is an example to the other youngsters at the club of what they can achieve.

​

"It felt good. I was a bit surprised when I saw it on Twitter, I don't really keep track of things like that.

​

"I'm looking forward to more appearances this season, and as a goalkeeper my main aim is always to get as many clean sheets as I can.

​

"The circumstances at the club mean there's a great opportunity for a lot of the young players, and hopefully they can make the most of it and do well.

​

"I'm confident we can start that off with a win on Saturday."

​

Coach Donald Jennow was keen to concentrate on the positives from last week's performance.

​

"As a team we did a number of things well, particularly in the first half. We need to make sure that we are more consistent on that front.

​

"Arbroath are very effective at what they do, so we need to use the size of the pitch to our advantage and make sure that we play with the energy and pace that the squad is capable of."

​

Sean McIntosh returns from suspension for the Diamonds, but captain Marc Fitzpatrick remains sidelined with a leg injury, and striker Andy Ryan is rated doubtful after sustaining a bruised foot in the match at Station Park.

​

Scott Millar referees the first home game of the league campaign.