Lewis McGrattan says hard graft is the only route to success for Airdrie as the Diamonds prepare to take on the midfielder’s old club Morton.

A long-awaited win against Dundee North End in the Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup failed to immediately kickstart a run of results as Airdrie slipped to a 2-0 defeat to Queen’s Park at Hampden last weekend, and McGrattan says it was another bitter blow for the Diamonds.

“We’re obviously really frustrated with another loss on Saturday, we trained really well up to that.

“We came into it in a good place, but it was really disappointing. Hopefully we can build on it this week with the three games, starting with Morton.”

Ahead of meetings with Livingston and Partick Thistle at the Albert Bartlett Stadium, Airdrie face the Inverclyde club, who 23-year-old midfielder McGrattan left in the summer.

Having spent four years at Cappielow before making the switch to Lanarkshire, he knows what to expect from Saturday’s opponents.

“They’ll be looking for a win as well, they’ve had up and down form recently. I know what Dougie and Andy will be wanting – they’ll be high energy, high press after us.

“We just need to match that. Bring the intensity, try to play our football and hopefully get a positive result.”

Results last weekend saw Dougie Imrie’s side slip to ninth position in the William Hill Championship table, though they – and the three other sides tied on 15 points – hold a ten-point advantage over the Diamonds.

Having been part of the Morton side which overcame a similar hurdle last season, McGrattan knows that the gap is far from insurmountable.

“We’re obviously fully aware of where we are, there’s no hiding that. But you can’t over-dwell on it, that won’t help anything either. That’ll just continue the rut.

“Last year at Morton we were in a similar position, so we’ll be looking for similar form that they managed to hit last year, and hopefully we can start picking up wins.”

And while recent results have been hard to stomach, Lewis is relishing a run of appearances in the first team as he looks to play a part in Airdrie’s fightback.

“I’m enjoying playing – obviously I’m not enjoying the results, but I’m just looking to be as positive as I can. That’s what the manager wants from me, so I’ll just keep trying to do that and hopefully chip in with goals, assists and chances.

“We need to keep working hard. It’s not just going to get handed to us because we’re due one – we need to work even harder, in a way. I feel we’re doing that, we’re training really well, doing everything properly, and it’ll only be a matter of time before it starts to turn for us.”

Manager Rhys McCabe also references the turnaround made by Morton last season as he aims to make a dent in the current points difference on Saturday.

“It’ll be a tough game, it always is. I think just looking at league positions and current form, it’ll be a difficult game for both sides.

“We’ll be hoping that a couple of home fixtures in a row will give us a wee bit of momentum and hopefully we’ll start to kick on.

“Using Morton as an example, I think they were on eight points at Christmas last year, so by all means there’s nothing won or lost leading into the middle of December. We’d like to be in a better position of course, but we’re not – so it’s important that we get our sleeves rolled up, get the heads down, and get to work. “

The manager expects no immediate changes to the squad’s injury situation, but positive progress continues as a number of players work toward their comeback, with midfielder Liam McStravick this week joining training for the first time this season.

Referee Matthew MacDermid is in charge of his first Airdrie match since last season’s SPFL Trust Trophy final.

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.

Please be aware that behaviour deemed unacceptable will result in ejection from the stadium. Issues arising during the match can be reported anonymously - see the posters around the stadium for more information. Our unacceptable conduct policy can be viewed using the link below.