Lewis McGregor says Airdrie held their own against high-flying Livingston last time out – and home advantage can give the Diamonds the edge on Saturday.

A stoppage-time winner saw the Lions take all three points when the sides met at the Home of the Set Fare Arena in September, but Airdrie could have been ahead before then if not for a superb Jérôme Prior save from Chris Mochrie and a tight offside call against McGregor himself.

The flying winger went closest for the Diamonds as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Dunfermline last weekend, and says they simply must start finding the net.

“It was a struggle in the first half – probably just two teams down at the bottom of the league – and then second half I thought we grew into it, I thought we had more control and we just played better overall. It was a bit harsh getting the goal against us.

“I think we just need to not shoot ourselves in the foot by going that goal down, and obviously you do need to score to win games.”

The match at East End Park was McGregor’s fourth consecutive start after a period blighted by injury – a common theme at Airdrie this season – and the 20-year-old is pleased to be back on the teamsheet.

“It’s good getting more games, obviously it was a bit interrupted with my injuries – that was brutal.

“It’s just building from where I left off, that’s the main thing I wanted to do when I got back, so hopefully I’ll get back to where I was at the start of the season and just build it up over each game.”

The Diamonds welcome David Martindale’s in-form Livingston to the Albert Bartlett Stadium on Saturday, but McGregor insists that he and his team-mates can look to their last performance against the West Lothian side – and the backing of the home crowd.

“I think it’ll be a hard game, every game in the league is hard. We need to remember we’re at home, and we can go out there and play the way we want to play and take the game to them.

“We just need to look back, look at where we can hurt them, and take a bit of confidence from that.”

And as Airdrie once again look to bring an end to their disappointing run of results, Lewis believes goals – and wins – will come.

“We need a bit more confidence going forward – it’s obviously hard when you’re in the position that we’re in, but we just need to work on that and go with what we’ve got.

“I think it’s only a matter of time before we do turn it around.”

Manager Rhys McCabe knows that another tough test awaits his side, but believes signs of improvement are showing.

“Livingston are up at the top end of the table and they’re coming off the back of a good result against a good Falkirk team, so they’ll be flying.

“We’ve got to look at the positives from our side – yes, the result wasn’t in our favour, but the last time we played them, and the second half performance at the weekend there – we know we’re not a million miles away.

“Hopefully in the next three or four weeks we start to see the introduction of players coming back from the injury list, and it gives us a much healthier chance to make changes and affect games.”

While the squad’s injury situation looks set improve soon, there are no immediate changes ahead of Saturday’s match.

Referee Ryan Lee officiates a match involving Airdrie for the first time.

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