Dean McMaster is one of six members of the 2024 SPFL Trust Trophy winning side still with the Diamonds, and the midfielder wants Airdrie to continue their good form against Alloa Athletic as they enter the newly renamed KDM Evolution Trophy.

McMaster, who captained the side to victory against Ross County on Saturday, was a half-time substitute against The New Saints as the Diamonds won 2-1 to lift the trophy at The Falkirk Stadium last year.

Much has changed at Airdrie since that afternoon 20 months ago, with only McMaster, Gavin Gallagher, Liam McStravick, David Hutton and Aaron Taylor-Sinclair still at the club – alongside Charlie Telfer, who returned to the Diamonds this season after a year with Saturday’s opponents Ross County.

Fast forward to December 2025, and the club are preparing to enter the competition once again with a round of 32 tie against Alloa.

Airdrie approach the match in decent form, with Gallagher and ex-Wasp Euan Henderson scoring Saturday’s goals as Airdrie triumphed 2-1 in Dingwall.

McMaster knows another tough test awaits at the Indodrill, with Andy Graham’s side having already beaten Airdrie in this season’s Premier Sports Cup.

Speaking after Saturday’s match, he looked ahead to the upcoming encounter.

“Obviously we’ll do our homework on Alloa in the coming days. They’re a decent team, I think they’ve gone a good couple of games unbeaten in League 1. It won’t be an easy game, especially going there. We’re looking forward to it.

“We’ll look back and compare games and opposition players. We’ll do our homework well and we’ll go onto the training pitch and figure out ways to exploit Alloa and do the best we can to get the result.”

Despite a quick turnaround after a long journey north at the weekend, there’s no chance that McMaster and his team-mates would rather be resting or training.

The 22-year-old says it’s important that the Diamonds keep up their run of good performances.

“I think the boys love that, more time playing games than on the training pitch! It’s good training during the week, but the most important part is the game – so everyone’s looking forward to that.

“The more thick and fast they come, the better for us. We just want to keep that momentum going. I think in the last three or four games we’ve been really good and the standard has been set very high, so it’s just about keeping that up and doing our best for the team.”

And McMaster’s own experience of lifting the cup is incentive enough to strive for progression to the next round.

“I was saying that to the boys, obviously I’ve won it personally with Airdrie, along with a few others.

“We know what it’s like to win a bit of silverware – some of the boys have and some haven’t, so it’ll be good to just get the boys through it and try to get our hands on it again.”

And with the late reversal in July ending Airdrie’s involvement in the Premier Sports Cup, Dean says there’s no chance of complacency creeping in.

“It’s not going to be a case of turning up and expecting to win, we’ll need to graft and play how we play and try to punish them at the end of the day.

“That’ll be our goal, and we’ll hopefully get into the next round.”

Caretaker manager Aaron Taylor-Sinclair wants to see his side continue with their recent attacking approach.

“It’s just all about keeping that momentum going – we’ve won in the Scottish Cup, won today, and we’ll look to continue that at Alloa on Tuesday. We’ve had them watched and they’re a good side, so we’ll be ready for that.

“It’s about us going there and trying to create chances. We’re aiming for 10-15 chances a game and seeing where that takes us.”

While Cammy Bruce made an earlier-than-expected comeback against Ross County, fellow defender Lewis Strapp will again miss out on Tuesday, alongside midfielders Rhys Armstrong and Alex King.

Late checks will be made on Aidan Wilson and Liam McStravick, who missed Saturday’s game through illness, and strikers Euan Henderson and Aaron Reid who both picked up knocks during the match at Dingwall.

It’s a first Airdrie match of the season for referee Iain Snedden, who officiated four fixtures involving the Diamonds last season.

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.