Murray Aiken says the Diamonds are determined to bounce back from last week’s defeat, and a visit to Premiership side Dundee is the perfect opportunity.

Airdrie take on the Dee in the second round of the Premier Sports Cup on Saturday, and midfielder Aiken wants to put last Friday’s 5-0 defeat at Ayr in the past.

“I think at first we were all a bit down, because it was a shock getting beaten 5-0. We thought we’d started the season well in the League Cup and going away to Pittodrie and playing well.

“As soon as that final whistle went we just wanted another game to try to rectify it. We know with the standard we set that was nowhere near good enough, and we just want that one away as soon as possible.”

It was back to the hard work on Monday morning for the Diamonds, with no time for the squad to feel sorry for themselves ahead of another tough test.

Following a successful group stage where wins over East Kilbride, Dumbarton and Queen of the South saw Airdrie progress, Tony Docherty’s Dark Blues offer the Diamonds another chance to shine against Premiership opposition after a good showing at Aberdeen early in the competition.

Aiken believes the Championship side can raise their game despite last weekend’s setback.

“We’ve been in a few days now and the morale is slowly building back up again, and we’ll be ready to go come Saturday.

“There’s no point in getting too down, I think most clubs are going to have a result this season where you look at it and think that shouldn’t have happened, or that was unexpected.

“We just need to pick ourselves up, and we have done that in the first couple of days back in. Like I said, we’ll be ready to go.”

Returning to the Albert Bartlett Stadium for a second loan spell from Hibernian, Aiken – who turned 20 last week – is looking forward to the trip to the City of Discovery.

“It’ll be a good test for us all. All the boys are really, really up for it.

“Dundee have started the season well with a good result against Hearts last week, so it’ll be a good test for us and we’ll go and see what we can do.

“These are the games you want to play in – you want to play at the highest level possible and I’m sure that’s the same for everyone within the squad. We’re dying to get out there.”

Saturday will be the third cup meeting of the sides in successive seasons. Although Airdrie took the Dee to extra-time in the Scottish Cup in November, 2022, the additional period proved to be too much for the visitors. Depleted by injuries and a harsh red card, the Diamonds went down 6-2.

It was a different story in Airdrie last season, when the home side triumphed in the Viaplay Cup group stage. Player-manager Rhys McCabe netted the only goal of the game with a late penalty after Dundee had seen a spot-kick of their own saved.

That match was Murray’s first competitive start for the club, and he remembers it fondly.

“I remember playing in that game last season – it was a good game, a couple of penalties and we just nicked that one.

“We’ll be hoping to do the same again, but there’s no doubt they’ve got quality and we’ll need to be aware of that.”

Diamonds player-manager Rhys McCabe summed up Saturday’s task in one word.

“Difficult. I think how well they’ve started the season will tell you that. They’ve come off an incredible year last year, and they’ve managed to achieve what they have in a short period of time.

“We’re under no illusion, going away from home it’ll be a difficult task. Coming off a negative result for ourselves, we’ll be looking for a reaction and a better performance.

“It’s one where we should be going into the game full of excitement. We’ve earned the right to be there, and it’s almost a free hit – no-one’s expecting us to go and give them problems, but we’ve shown in the past against the top sides that we’ve managed to do that. We’ll be hoping to do that again.”

Midfielders Liam McStravick and Lewis McGregor continue to miss out for Airdrie, while defender Craig Watson and striker Aaron Reid are rated doubtful after recent knocks.

Referee Euan Anderson is in charge of his first Airdrie match of the season.

Match tickets are available using the link below, and our DiamondsTV video (subscribers outwith the UK and Ireland) and audio (pay-per-match worldwide) streams are available. Domestic viewers can watch on Premier Sports’ streaming service.

Please be aware that a no-parking zone is in operation around the Scot Foam Stadium. Supporters travelling by car are advised that parking in this area will result in a fine.