Saturday sees Airdrie’s first meeting with Livingston in four years, and Mason Hancock says a fresh challenge may be exactly what the Diamonds need.

Trying to bed in a new-look squad amidst a worsening injury crisis has proved difficult for Airdrie, with a recent run of poor results leaving the Diamonds at the foot of the Championship table following last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Morton.

Defender Hancock made a substitute appearance at Cappielow after the recurrence of a hamstring strain left him only fit enough for the bench, but is raring to go again as Airdrie make their first trip to Almondvale since 2020.

The 21-year-old says the Diamonds must roll their sleeves up to turn their fortunes around.

“Of course it’s not easy, but the fight’s there and the courage is there to go and put things right.

“A few weeks have gone by now where we’ve worked on stuff on the training pitch, then when it comes to the Saturday we’re playing a completely different way. Why is that, that’s what we’re trying to figure out.

“It’s tough to pick ourselves up, but only we can do it, so we’re thankful that there’s a game on Saturday to again go and hopefully put things right.”

Hancock’s return is a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy treatment room, with seven first-team regulars unavailable for the match at The Home of the Set Fare Arena.

The Londoner won’t use injuries as an excuse, and points out that a settling-in period is inevitable after a large turnover of players in the summer.

“It’s a very new squad, at the end of the day. It takes time, as it always will, to gel.

“Ultimately it needs to be a lot better on the pitch. You can push that aside – it’s not an excuse, it’s a fact, we do need time to gel, but the simple things like workrate and what you should be doing on a football pitch aren’t there at the moment.

“It’s about now puffing your chest out and being the one to say ‘this needs to change’.”

In an extremely tight Championship there is little chance of respite when results are against you, and Airdrie will continue to battle against the trend by facing David Martindale’s Livingston, who were relegated in the summer following a five-year stint in the Premiership.

Both clubs have seen significant changes in personnel since their last meeting, a 4-1 Betfred Cup win for the Lions in which doubles from Alan Forrest and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas turned around Thomas Robert’s stunning opener.

Mason believes that facing a ‘new’ side could give the Diamonds the spark to dig out a positive result.

“It’s a team we don’t know too much about, and that can work in your favour sometimes.

“The coaching staff are getting their point across to us this week in terms of how they’re going to press, how they’re going to play and vice-versa. We just need to really make sure that we’re taking that on board and delivering it into our performance at the weekend.

“Not a lot of teams have really chopped and changed as much as we have in terms of players and recruitment, so you know what you’re coming up against. This weekend it’s different – a team that’s come down and will be looking to go back up, and there’s unfamiliar faces. We’ll do our research, we’ll find the boys that we feel can hurt us, and we’ll look to shut them down.”

Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe will once again face selection headaches, but knows he has quality throughout his squad as he aims to improve results – and performances.

“Before the season started, they’d have been one of the favourites, given the fact that they’ve come down with good experience from a good level. They’ll be hurting as well, looking to bounce back – but anybody can beat anyone in the league, it’s very, very tight.

“It’s important that we rectify mistakes, which has obviously been the common theme just now, it’s the performance levels that I’ve not been happy with. The results come with that, and results are of course what drives the business, but I’m always a big believer that if we get the performance right, then the results take care of themselves.

“For as much as we’re maybe not on a great run of confidence and momentum, it’s something that can change very quickly in football – a goal, a result, a performance, which the group is more than capable of. It’s going to be a tough game, Davie will have them well drilled and we know that we’re going to have to be matching that if not more, and then looking to add our little bits of quality.”

The Diamonds player-manager remains unavailable for selection, alongside Luke Badley-Morgan, Aidan Wilson, Terrell Agyemang, Dean McMaster and Liam McStravick. Rhys Armstrong is suspended following his red card last weekend, but Ben Wilson is expected to be available despite suffering a broken hand at Cappielow.

Kevin Clancy referees his first Airdrie tie of the campaign. His solitary match involving the Diamonds last season was January’s 1-0 Scottish Cup win over St.Johnstone.

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.

A ticket office will be open for away supporters on the day (accepting cash and card payments), but fans are advised to buy online in advance if possible. Refreshment kiosks in the Home of the Set Fare arena also accept cash and card payments, but car parks are cash-only.