Murray Johnson will soon head off on international duty with Scotland – and the goalkeeper wants to make it a double celebration with three points against Hamilton Academical.

Airdrie make the short trip to New Douglas Park on Saturday, their first visit since the jubilant afternoon last May when a penalty shoot-out victory secured promotion to the Championship.

Accies bounced back from their relegation with an immediate return to the second-tier, and will be looking for revenge with a result which would make it four without a win for the Diamonds.

The latest of those matches was last weekend’s defeat at the hands of Queen’s Park – but Johnson says there were signs of improvement.

“Obviously after the game your emotions are raw and you’re disappointed with the result and maybe the overall performance, but having watched it back as a group – with the manager’s eyes on it as well – there is positives to take.

“There was certainly loads of good stuff in there, so we’ve tried to take the positives out of it and look at the negatives where we can improve, but there’s plenty of stuff to take moving forward to Saturday’s game.”

While Airdrie were the architects of their own downfall at times last Saturday, some incorrect refereeing calls didn’t help matters – and neither did the fact that a brand new centre-back pairing were pitched in for their debuts thanks to a crowded injury list.

Johnson is confident that new boys Sam Graham and Luke Badley-Morgan will prove to integrate well with the squad – sharing their determination to turn results around.

“We’re a group that’s together, we want to win for each other. There’s no crisis – you lose a game of football and everyone thinks that it’s the worst thing in the world, but there’s always positives to take.

“We’re a young group, so we’re going to learn and we’re going to learn quick. Certainly I’ve learned a lot in the last three games, there’s loads of learning curves in the season so we’ll just try and take what we can from the game.”

While Johnson will be hoping to be involved against Spain and Malta in the upcoming U21 fixtures, there’s the small matter of a trip across Lanarkshire to deal with first.

The 19-year-old Hibernian loanee expects another stern test against the newly-promoted Accies.

“It’ll be a tough match. They always are in this league, especially away from home.

“Hamilton are a tough opposition and of course they did well last week, we know that. We’re looking to put a few wrongs right on Saturday – we’ll work hard this week but we know it’s going to be a tough game.

“There’s no hiding place in this league, you need to work hard for three points, so we know what to expect and we know what’s coming on Saturday.”

And while another goalkeeper – the recently departed Josh Rae – gave the Diamonds faithful cause to celebrate on their last visit to New Douglas Park, Murray was in amongst the jubilant Airdrie support, having joined the club on a series of emergency loan deals earlier that season.

He wants a return to the early season form to spark another happy day out in Hamilton.

“I know the fans will have fond memories of being on the pitch after the game, so we’ll try to get a positive result, get three points and finish the month well.

“We started well with a great performance against Raith, so there’s no reason why we can’t go and replicate that on Saturday.”

Manager Rhys McCabe says his squad have responded well to last Saturday’s setback, and expects his side to approach the derby with the correct attitude.

“It’ll be closely battled and tightly fought – I fully expect it to be competitive, like I do with every game in this league, I don’t think there’s ever an easy game whether you’re at home or away.

“We’ve got to make sure that we go in with the right mentality and the right focus, and we go there to try and get the win.

“We’re positive as always, and confident going into this week. Training’s been really good – we’ve got the spirits up, addressed some things, and we look forward to the game.”

The Diamonds boss still has a lengthy injury list to contend with, unavailable himself due to a calf strain while knee injuries rule out Liam McStravick, Aidan Wilson, Craig Watson and Dean McMaster. Lewis McGregor is nearing a return following an ankle knock, and Aaron Reid is back to full fitness.

Referee Grant Irvine took charge of seven Airdrie matches last season, including wins over Arbroath, Dundee United and Dunfermline Athletic.

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