Wednesday evening sees the Diamonds face Raith Rovers with a second cup final in two years at stake – and vice-captain Dean McMaster is aiming to step up and guide his team-mates to another shot at glory.

Midfielder McMaster was part of the Airdrie side which beat The New Saints to lift the SPFL Trust Trophy in March 2024, playing the entire second half as the Diamonds came from behind to secure a 2-1 win.

Now Championship rivals Raith are all that stand between Airdrie and another chance to lift the newly-renamed KDM Evolution trophy in a showpiece final against Ayr United or Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Speaking after Saturday’s defeat at Partick Thistle, McMaster was thankful for the quick turnaround and shift of focus.

“We’re obviously looking forward to it. It would have been better today to get a win, but the boys are looking forward to the game on Wednesday.

“It’s always good to be in a semi-final, I think a lot of the boys haven’t experienced that yet. Some have, and have won the competition, but it’s good to get a game thick and fast to bounce back.

“There’s a lot more experienced boys that have played a lot more games, but winning a bit of silverware I can pass down as much as I know and just get on with the game – try to get to the final and get a positive result as well.”

The 2024 final appearance came courtesy of a 1-0 semi-final win over Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park. There is a change of venue this time around with the Albert Bartlett Stadium hosting the match, and although there have been a host of changes at both clubs, McMaster expects a typically difficult tie against the Kirkcaldy side now under the management of Dougie Imrie.

“We know Dougie’s teams, they’re set up well – we know that from playing them when he was at Morton.

“We’ll go back on the training ground and we’ll work on different things. We’ll look at all the analysis we can, finding different ways to get into positions where we can create goals.”

And Dean, who is currently wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of injured skipper Aidan Wilson, calls for a team performance as the Diamonds look to atone for the recent blanks drawn against St Johnstone and Partick Thistle.

“We don’t have to rely on Mocks and Hendo, that shouldn’t be the case. We’ve got quality players all around, attacking players.

“It’s all about sacrificing sometimes – you might not get the ball, if you run away for someone else to get that ball, that’s the kind of unselfishness we need at the moment.

“We just need to scrub ourselves up and try to get a good result on Wednesday. We can’t dwell on the Partick Thistle game, we have to move on straight away. That game’s done and it’s onto the next one.”

Head coach Aaron Taylor-Sinclair has been pleased with his side’s home form in the cup competitions this season as he looks to bounce back from Saturday’s disappointment.

“Once you have a disappointing performance and result, to get a game midweek clears everyone’s minds – and it’s a chance to get into a cup final.

“We’ve obviously had a few cup games where we’ve had positive results at home. Hopefully we can build momentum from a positive result on Wednesday night and then see where it takes us for Morton on Saturday.

“We watched Raith on Friday – they’re a solid team, Dougie’s teams are always like that. It’s about us having to match that fight and battle, and then hopefully our quality takes over.”

Robbie Mahon and Dom Thomas are ineligible for the competition, and will join the injured Aidan Wilson, Rhys Armstrong, Alex King and Aaron Reid on the sidelines.

Referee Sean Murdoch is back at the Albert Bartlett for a third time this season, having officiated July’s Premier Sports Cup match against Alloa Athletic and the 1-0 Championship defeat to Ayr United in November.

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