Gavin Gallagher opened the scoring in Tuesday night’s KDM cup win over Montrose, and the midfielder hopes to help the Diamonds overcome Ayr this weekend.

Airdrie travel to the west coast to take on an Ayr side whose winning run in the fixture stretches to 12 matches, but the Diamonds will make the trip with their tails up after the midweek 3-1 victory in the KDM Evolution Trophy.

Gallagher sparked the tie into life with a trademark finish from the edge of the box, and the 21-year-old says the outcome was never in doubt despite a stuffy first-half performance from the League 1 visitors.

“It was good – it was obviously a struggle in the first half breaking them down. We knew they were going to come here and sit in.

“It was just about getting that first goal, and thankfully we got it just after half-time. It felt good as soon as it left my boot – but the one in the first half I don’t want to talk about!”

After two home games to start 2026, the Diamonds are back on the road this weekend – and Gallagher points to recent away form as a positive.

“It’s something we’ve been really good at the past month or two, going away to these grounds.

“It’s all about keeping it clean the first 10-15 minutes, and then trying to turn them in behind. When we start getting further up the pitch, we play our style, we start getting shots away, and hopefully they start going in!”

It’s perhaps no coincidence that Airdrie started to find joy on their travels following the interim appointment of Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, who is now head coach on a permanent basis.

Having not won an away league match before the appointment, the Diamonds went on to record fine wins in Kirkcaldy, Dingwall, and Greenock.

Gallagher says the side have adopted a more pragmatic approach under the new boss.

“Even last season or the start of this season, we wouldn’t have got those points away from home. I think since Sinky’s taken over, we’re a wee bit more streetwise.

“The first half of the game isn’t always about playing out from the back. I know we like to do that, but when you go away to these grounds it’s tough. You need to play the game.”

All of that leads to an intriguing tie against Ayr United, who have yet to kick a ball in anger this year following two weather-related postponements.

Scott Brown’s men have certainly enjoyed the upper hand over Airdrie in recent years, including two wins already this season.

The Honest Men raced into an unassailable lead when the Diamonds visited Somerset Park in September, Ethan Walker and a Mark McKenzie double putting the hosts 3-0 up after just 22 minutes. Jamie Murphy added a fourth between Lewis McGrattan and Charlie Telfer’s strikes for Airdrie, leading to a 4-2 final scoreline.

McKenzie was on the scoresheet again at the Albert Bartlett in November, with Airdrie unable to break down the visitors’ low block following Marco Rus’s 59th-minute red card.

Gavin says it’s up to Airdrie to find a way to break the hoodoo.

“They’re not going to change, it’s working for them and they’ve got our number at the moment. I think they’ll try to make it scrappy for us.

“It’s just about us trying to pick up on second and third balls, and when we do get it on the floor we play our own game.

“We’re coming in with momentum. As a footballer you want to play as many games as you can – luckily for us we’re going in off a win, so we’re going in with confidence.”

Head coach Aaron Taylor-Sinclair hopes to put a stop to Ayr’s dominance in the tie.

“We’ll be going there looking to implement our style, and we’ll be going for the win. It’s no secret we haven’t done well against Ayr, and we’ll be looking to put that right.

“Confidence is always high after a victory, and for us it’s about trying to build that momentum again – how many wins can we pick up this month and then go from there.

“They’re a good team, they’ve got seasoned Championship players in their ranks, so it’s always a tough test. They’ve got threats from many areas, so we’ll be trying to nullify that and then imposing our strengths on them.”

Taylor-Sinclair hopes to have Aidan Wilson available after the captain missed the last two matches following a minor hamstring strain. Fellow defender Sean McGinty was substituted against Montrose having taken a knock against Raith Rovers last weekend, and will be assessed as the match approaches.

Cade Melrose, Rhys Armstrong, Alex King and Aaron Reid are still expected to miss out for the Diamonds.


Referee Chris Graham officiates a second Airdrie match this season, having been in charge of the recent victory against Morton at Cappielow.

Match tickets are available using the link below. Under 18s go free for this match, but tickets are still required. Supporters using the West Stand at Somerset should enter via turnstile 10, while those in the Railway End should use turnstiles 3 and 5. Supporters buses should use the main car park.

Our DiamondsTV video (subscribers outwith the UK and Ireland) and audio (pay-per-match worldwide) streams are available as usual.