Airdrie’s Betfred Cup campaign may be all over bar the shouting, but Dale Carrick remains confident the Diamonds can spring an upset against his former club Livingston.

Wednesday night’s disappointing defeat at the hands of Edinburgh City means that only an extremely convoluted set of results would see Airdrie progress from the group stage, and Carrick concedes that it was not an enjoyable evening for the Diamonds.

“It was frustrating to say the least. To lose a goal so early made it a mountain to climb.

“Yes we had lots of possession and good periods in the game, but conceding in the first few minutes always gives you an uphill battle.”

That goal came courtesy of Blair Henderson, with the prolific striker netting after just five minutes and Airdrie unable to find a leveller despite dominating possession and chances.

It is often said that you learn more about yourself from defeat than victory, and with League One progress remaining the club’s top priority, Carrick believes there are lessons to be learned from Wednesday’s loss.

“Definitely not to lose a goal that early! We have to build ourselves into the game - and we need to do that by being prepared mentally and physically.

“It’s another boot up the **** for us, to be honest. We can’t start games like that, no matter where it is.”

Midweek aside, it’s been a successful start to the season for 26-year-old forward Carrick, who has picked up where he left off last season with four goals to his name already.

The former Hearts man has fewer games in which to better last year’s 13 strikes, but that’s exactly what he intends to do.

“I want to beat last season’s tally. I just want to keep hitting the back of the net whether that’s from open play or from penalties. I’ll take the stick from Gal and keep scoring them!”

“As a forward, if you’re scoring goals that takes care of your performances and hopefully gets more points on the board.”

The next opportunity to increase that total comes with a trip to the Tony Macaroni Arena to face Livingston in the final Betfred Cup Group H game.

Dale spent 18 months with the West Lothian club before joining Airdrie, and is looking forward to returning.

“It’s a huge game, playing against a Premiership team. Quite a lot of the boys that I was there with have moved to other clubs and even got Scotland call-ups and without being disrespectful to Livi, it’s great to see them going on to bigger and better things.

“I think we showed with our performance against Clyde than we can react to a defeat.

“It’ll be a tough, tough game - Livingston have got very good players and their philosophy is all about their work ethic - but as long as we prepare correctly and give it a go, I’m 100% confident we can get a result.”

Manager Ian Murray wants to see a reaction from his players ahead of the resumption of the League One campaign.

“As with any other defeat, we’re looking to bounce back immediately.

“Saturday gives us the chance to do that with a really good test against top level opposition before we get back to league matters.”

Josh Kerr is expected to be fit for selection after limping out of Wednesday’s night’s game, but Calum Gallagher is still rated as doubtful. Fellow striker Ally Roys remains sidelined as he recovers from a wrist injury.

The match is available on Livingston's LFC Live streaming platform using the link below. Kick-off is at 3:00pm.