Gavin Gallagher was back in the Airdrie line-up as the Diamonds returned to winning ways – and the midfielder wants that to continue against league leaders St Johnstone on Saturday.

With Aaron Taylor-Sinclair in temporary charge following the departure of Danny Lennon, Airdrie managed their first league win of the season as Euan Henderson’s penalty sunk Arbroath at the Albert Bartlett Stadium last weekend.

One of the changes made by Taylor-Sinclair was to reinstate Gallagher, last year’s Young Player of the Season, into the midfield, and the 21-year-old was delighted to play his part in securing three points.

“Wins help in football, it brings everyone together. Thankfully we got the win on Saturday, and hopefully we can take that into the next game and then the following Friday.

“Sinky’s been here for so long, so we all know him. I know it’s a new group from the start of the season, but most of the boys know Sink and the way he works. We’re just looking forward to Saturday now.”

Having made only one other start – in the Premier Sports Cup opener at Dundee – and a handful of substitute appearances, Gallagher could be forgiven for finding Saturday’s match a hard slog. He says that wasn’t the case.

“I was actually alright on the Sunday, but I hadn’t played for so long and I was just happy to get back in to the starting XI and get that 60 minutes under my belt. Hopefully I can play a bigger part on Saturday.

“In football you always have to have someone who believes in you and thinks you’re good enough to go and play, and I’ve got that with Sink, Hutts and Prunts just now. Hopefully I can just continue playing and being back at my best.”

Challenges don’t come any harder than top-versus-bottom, and that’s what Airdrie face as they travel to Perth to face league leaders St Johnstone on Saturday.

It’s the Diamonds’ first visit to McDiarmid Park since March 2009. Leaders St Johnstone played ninth-placed Airdrie that day, winning 3-0 with a Collin Samuel double and a last-minute goal from Paul Sheerin.

The sides find themselves in similar positions heading into this weekend’s meeting – but Gallagher says recent history is far more important.

“Listen, they’ll be confident – they’re at the top of the league and they’re flying – but we just won as well, so we’ll go into the game confident as well. We’ll just play our style of play and hopefully we can get the three points.

“We’ve done our homework on them, and they’ve probably done the same with us. In games you need to take chances – hopefully we’ll get chances on Saturday and we just need to take them.

“As a footballer you want to play in the best games. Our next two games are the two at the top – they’re the kind of games you want to play in, and we’ll be confident going into both games.”

Interim boss Aaron Taylor-Sinclair is looking to Airdrie’s second-half performance from the reverse fixture in September. Jamie Gullan and Cheick Diabate gave the Saints a two-goal lead that night, but Cammy Cooper’s goal and a spirited late attacking display made it a nervy ending for Simo Valakari’s men.

“They’ve got their threats – they’re top of the league for a reason.

“They can hurt you in a lot of departments on the pitch. We need to be on our mettle and ready for the game.

“We can take encouragement at how that last 20 minutes ended. Going on to Saturday, we’ll need to look towards starting the game a lot better – hopefully that’s the case.”

The Diamonds caretaker manager confirmed that Charlie Telfer is unlikely to feature after sustaining a heavy ankle knock against Arbroath.

Although Cammy Bruce has been involved in full training this week, the defender continues to miss out alongside Craig Ross, Dylan MacDonald, Rhys Armstrong and Alex King.

Lewis McGrattan is expected to be available, while Liam McStravick serves the second game of his two-match suspension.

Referee Greg Soutar is in charge of a match involving Airdrie for the second time this season, having officiated July’s 3-0 Premier Sports Cup win over Bonnyrigg Rose.

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.