Dale Carrick says past results mean nothing when Airdrie face Raith Rovers on Saturday.

 

The forward had a brief loan spell at Stark’s Park in 2015, but injury cut the deal short after only two games.

 

Now in his second year as an Airdrie player, Carrick has yet to taste victory over the Kirkcaldy side, but says the Diamonds are in confident mood after a good win at Dumbarton last weekend.

 

“Any points away from home will be really important this season - the minimum we want to achieve is a play-off position, so wins like Saturday’s are vital.

 

“It was a difficult game, Dumbarton were aggressive and always looked like they were a threat going forward. The wind made it a wee bit trickier, but I thought we played some nice football on the grass.”

 

The win pushed Airdrie back into the top four in League One, but Carrick says it’s too soon to be looking at tables.

 

“I would say it’s still very much early days, everyone is still within a few points of each other so a few results either way can see teams move to either end of the league.

 

“I don’t really think we get a good idea of the positions until after Christmas.”

 

The Diamonds received a boost yesterday as manager Ian Murray signed a new two-year deal with the club, a move which has delighted Carrick.

 

“It’s great news, to be honest, and it shows how much faith the club has in him.

 

“The work he’s done in the background has been fantastic, he’s brilliant with the boys and he has us all pulling in the same direction.”

 

With attention turning to Saturday’s home clash with Raith Rovers, Dale is aware that results against John McGlynn’s side haven’t been good enough in recent years.

 

The 25-year-old expects another feisty encounter.

 

“We always seem to have a bit of beef with Raith Rovers for some reason… I don’t know what it is, but the games always seem to be extra competitive!

 

“We seem to play well against them and just haven’t been able to get results - there have been a few games in recent years where we’ve been on top and they’ve come back and won it.

 

“We have a completely different changing room now, there are a lot of new players and we’re all confident after last week’s win, so it’s a fresh start and anything could happen.”

 

Manager Ian Murray agrees that it’s important to turn things round against the Rovers.

 

“I was impressed by Raith last season. We had some good games against them, although they’ve held a bit of a sign over us and have picked up a lot of points against us.

 

“If we can turn some of those points in our favour this season it will give us half a chance.”

 

Goalkeeper Scott Gallacher faces another spell on the sidelines with a leg knock picked up ahead of Monday’s reserve fixture. Sean Crighton’s fitness is being monitored after the captain limped out of last week’s match at Dumbarton with a hamstring strain.

 

Referee Steven Reid is in charge of his first Airdrie match this season.