Ben Wilson is aiming for three points on Friday night as the Diamonds look to go into next week’s play-offs in a high – but the striker warns that Ayr United will be doing the same.

Although some uncertainty remains as Hamilton’s appeal against their points deduction is yet to be heard, Airdrie face the League 1 play-offs as things stand – and the opportunity to retain their place in next season’s Championship.

With the first of those matches coming hot on the heels of Friday’s final Championship fixture, squad rotation is likely – but top scorer Wilson says the Diamonds will still be going all out for the win.

“We’ve both probably got the play-offs now, but it’s still a game where we’ll look to implement our stuff and try to win.

“We need to go into the play-offs with a bit of momentum, so I think it’ll be important to pick up three points.”

Although the final placings in League 1 will not be decided until Saturday evening, Airdrie will first face the fourth-placed side in a two-legged semi-final. Victory in that would see the Diamonds progress to the final against the winner of the second vs third match.

After a torrid start to the season, Airdrie’s remarkable turnaround put them in a position to take advantage of a fifteen-point deduction handed to Hamilton Academical for various rule breaches.

Unless there is a similarly momentous turnaround at Thursday’s appeal hearing, the Diamonds now have a chance to stay up, and Wilson can’t wait.

“We’re all looking forward to it. We know we’ve got a job to do, and that’s to stay in the league.

“Everybody’s up for it and we’ll be aiming for those four games – we’ll look at the first two, take care of them hopefully, and then focus on the last two.”

Friday’s opponents Ayr United have confirmed their third-place finish, and with three wins out of three against Airdrie so far, Scott Brown’s side will be coming to the Albert Bartlett looking for their own confidence boost ahead of the promotion play-offs.

While the Honest Men are also likely to rest their top performers, Wilson knows that the spread of talent throughout their squad has put them in this position.

“Ayr are a strong team, their position in the league shows that. Regardless who plays, they’re strong and anybody looking in from the outside can see that. They’ve got really good depth.

“We’ll be trying to get a bit of momentum going into the games, and so will they. It should be a good game.”

And as the only Airdrie player to hit the net against Ayr this season – from the penalty spot in March’s 4-1 defeat at Somerset – Ben would be delighted to add to his 16 goals on Friday night.

“I love scoring goals, so I’ll do everything I can to try and do it.

“If the goals come, that’s good – but helping the team and helping everybody out is the main thing.”

Manager Rhys McCabe is preparing as normal despite Thursday’s appeal and Tuesday’s potential play-off away leg.

“It’s not that you want to take your foot off the gas or anything like that, because you still want to have confidence going into the play-offs, but obviously there are other factors as well with the appeal.

“A few things to think about, and we’ve got to do as best we can to approach the game like any other and try to win it, but at the same time we’ll have a wee thought on the games during the week.”

The Diamonds boss is still without Cammy Bruce (knee) and Aaron Reid (hamstring). Defenders Alex Bannon and Aidan Wilson are continuing their rehab from recent injuries with the aim of returning for the play-off matches, while Lewis McGrattan (hamstring) has resumed training after missing the last two games.

Steven Kirkland is in charge of the Friday night clash, his first match involving Airdrie this season – and the last of his refereeing career as he hangs up his whistle for the final time following the fixture.

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