Leighton McIntosh says improvement is required if Airdrie are to win at Arbroath, but the striker is confident the Diamonds can do just that.

 

The former Dundee and Peterhead man enjoyed a short but successful spell at Gayfield last year, bagging ten goals in a half-season stint with the Angus club.

 

McIntosh joined Airdrie in the summer, and already has four goals to his name. The latest in a recent run of starts came last weekend against Dumbarton in a 1-1 home draw, and the striker feels the Diamonds could have taken all three points.

 

“We knew it would be a tough one, they’ve got a good squad and they still have players who were with them at a higher level.

 

“We felt we could have won the game - it’s just fine lines. Hopefully we can start getting on the right side of those lines and the results will start coming in.”

 

Results in general have been up and down for Airdrie since the start of the League One campaign, and McIntosh feels the players on the park need to show more consistency.

 

“I think as individuals we all know we could be doing better. We’ve done not bad, it was a case of finding out everybody’s strengths and getting the squad to gel.

 

“A couple of results could have gone our way with slightly better performances, but we know we have something we can build on.”

 

League matches don’t get any tougher than an away tie against the unbeaten leaders, but McIntosh is looking forward to taking on his old team-mates.

 

“I’m treating it like any other game - I was only with Arbroath for half a season really, but the fans there were really supportive and it’s not like there was any bad blood or anything. It’ll be good to see the boys, but obviously we’re hopeful of getting the win. 

 

“Any team is capable of beating any other team in this league. Teams can be flying at the start and then deteriorate, and the other way round - you can start sluggishly and end really strongly. Arbroath will know that as well and won’t be taking anything for granted, but as a group of players we feel that we can go anywhere and get the three points.”

 

Using his Arbroath spell as a benchmark, Leighton set himself a 20-goal target for this season and requires one more in the first quarter to stay on track.

 

“I’ll get it on Saturday. I’ll hopefully get three and we can take it from there!”

 

Manager Stephen Findlay says his side will have to be on top of their game to take anything against Dick Campbell’s side.

 

“We’re visiting the league leaders who haven’t lost a game, so obviously it’s going to be a huge challenge for us.

 

“We’ve been a bit inconsistent and we want to put that right - but the opportunity is there to be the first team to beat Arbroath and we’re going to have to be on it on the day to do that.”

 

Darryl Duffy is back in training for Airdrie after the recurrence of an ankle injury, and the striker will be given every chance to prove his fitness ahead of the trip north.