Mason Hancock says the Diamonds are looking for a home win against Raith Rovers to get the William Hill Championship season off to a flyer.

Airdrie welcome Ian Murray’s side to the Albert Bartlett Stadium for Saturday’s curtain-raiser, having already performed well in the Premier Sports Cup group stage.

A stunning 8-0 win over East Kilbride, a dramatic comeback victory against Dumbarton, narrow defeat to Hancock’s former club Aberdeen, and a routine 2-0 win over Queen of the South saw the Diamonds qualify for the knockout stages, where they will now travel to Dundee later this month.

All of that came after an unusually large turnover of players in the summer, but defender Hancock is happy that the new faces have settled in well.

“Away from the pitch they’re a great group. We had a great group last year, and I guess that’s always the worry when such a big number of them go – is the changing room going to be the same?

“The personality of the boys we’ve recruited is top, and I think they’ve shown on the pitch what they can do already. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what they can do over the space of a season.”

The season begins in earnest with Saturday’s league opener against last year’s runners-up, Raith Rovers.

21-year-old Englishman Hancock was named Airdrie’s Young Player of the Year after an impressive debut season in the Diamond, and he can’t wait to get going again.

“I’m buzzing on an individual note, and talking to the boys I know they’re all buzzing as well Everything we’ve done in the past month or two has been working for this.

“We’ve had the League Cup now, the aim was to get through the group and that’s what we’ve done – but still in the back of your mind you’re working on stuff and getting to know the new boys on the pitch.”

With Callum Fordyce reuniting with former boss Murray over the summer, alongside Callum Smith, Dylan Easton and Andrew McNeil, the ex-Diamonds contingency in Kirkcaldy remains strong.

The Fifers may have finished second overall last season, but they couldn’t overcome Airdrie in five attempts, with the Diamonds registering four wins and a draw across four league meetings and the SPFL Trust Trophy semi-final.

That counts for nothing as both teams begin afresh on Saturday, but Hancock insists that Airdrie fear no-one.

“I’m looking forward to it, I think it’ll be a good game. The four or five times we played them last season shows that.

“They’re a good team, at the end of the day. They came second and they’ll be looking to top that this season, there’s no doubt about it.

“There’s no team in this league that will have us going into a game being cautious. Every week we’ll be going in confident, and we’ll try to start off positively this Saturday.”

And with the usual bumper crowd expected for the league opener, including pupils and parents from Tollbrae Primary school as the first participants in Albert Bartlett’s “Grow the Fanbase” initiative, Mason calls on the Diamonds faithful to be the 12th man once again.

“It’s nice, a bit of noise when we’re here. It brings the atmosphere, and also gets us going on the pitch. We can always hear them.

“If they can come in and get behind us for the first game of the season, we’re going to need it!”

Airdrie manager Rhys McCabe also wants his side to come roaring out of the traps on Saturday, but is fully aware that Raith will be expecting the same.

“The league table doesn’t lie – they were fortunate in terms of the way they finished the season, but they go into the play-offs and effectively they’re one game away.

“They take it to the second leg going up to Ross County, and on another day they maybe go and win that and we’re sitting talking about a team that’s been promoted.

“I know they’ve potentially had a few injuries and a few boys that have missed certain games in the League Cup, but I’m sure everyone is gearing up to be ready and prepared as best they can for the first game of the season.”

The Diamonds boss is without midfielder Liam McStravick (knee) and striker Aaron Reid (ankle), with Lewis McGregor rated as doubtful after missing last week’s match with a hamstring knock sustained at Aberdeen.

Referee Ross Hardie was in charge of two Airdrie matches last season, November’s 0-0 draw with Morton and the 2-0 Hampden defeat on the final day of the league season.

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