Dom Thomas says Airdrie have nothing to fear when they face league leaders St Johnstone on Saturday, and the Diamonds forward expects an entertaining match at McDiarmid Park.

With the sides at opposite ends of the Championship table and the Perthshire men having enjoyed three wins over Airdrie already, the result may be seen by many as a foregone conclusion – but the Diamonds sparkled last weekend with a 4-0 win at Ross County, and Thomas hailed the importance of the result ahead of another away fixture.

“The boys were brilliant – a great start, and we carry that through the game. We obviously knew how big the game was, and to get three points at this point in the season was crucial.

“I don’t think we expected the game to go that way. We obviously expect ourselves to go and put in a good performance and win, but to go and get the four goals away from home at a team you’re battling against was great.”

The Dingwall demolition ended a three-match winless streak for Airdrie, who had lost to Queen’s Park and Raith Rovers and drawn with Arbroath in a disappointing run of March fixtures.

Although last weekend’s result was undoubtedly a statement win, Thomas insists no-one in the Diamonds squad is getting carried away.

“We know three points, that’s all it was on Saturday. The good performance was obviously a bonus, but we know that’s done now.

“We’ve got hard games coming up. They’re games that we’re confident going into, that we can get points and win games – and ultimately get us safe where we want to be.

“We weren’t too negative and down when results weren’t going our way, we’re still trying to perform the way we do and play the football that we do.”

As St Johnstone aim to close in on an immediate return to the top flight, Simo Valakari will be looking to make it four wins out of four against Airdrie – who gave a good account of themselves in all three previous encounters, but ultimately came away with nothing.

The Saints were 2-1 winners in Airdrie back in September, Jamie Gullan and Cheick Diabate scoring before Cammy Cooper’s strike set up a tense ending which saw Diabate and Aaron Reid red-carded at the final whistle.

Airdrie started brightly at McDiarmid in November, but Adama Sidibeh’s hat-trick saw the points remain in Perth.

And Ruari Paton scored the only goal of the game at the Albert Bartlett in February, though a Toby Steward wonder-save denied Airdrie a certain equaliser among other good Diamonds chances.

Dom says there’s no reason why he and his team-mates can’t cause an upset in Perth.

“Obviously St Johnstone are top of the league and they’ll have a wee bounce and a wee spirit about them, but I think sometimes when you’re up the top of the league you just don’t get over the line the way you want to.

“It should be a good game on Saturday, and I’ve got full faith in the boys to go and get another win.

“Obviously it is a hard game going up there – for me St Johnstone have probably been the best team in the league this year, but that goes for nothing when three o’clock comes on Saturday. Both teams go and play good football, and at the end of the day the best team will win.”

Head coach Aaron Taylor-Sinclair says his side weren’t the only ones to pick up an impressive result on the road last week.

“They’re coming off the back of a good away result up at Arbroath, it’s never easy to go up there and win, so they’ll be in good spirits as well.

“In this part of the season everyone’s chasing something, whether it’s staying in the league or going and getting promoted – but for us it’s a kickstart for the next seven days, because we’ve got three games coming up. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going.

“It’s another tough test for us, they’ve got loads of threats and firepower in the forward areas, and a solid defence as well. We’re going into it full of confidence knowing that we can compete with that.”

The Diamonds boss will choose from a similar pool to last weekend after scans revealed that Dean McMaster had suffered a minor hamstring tear which will see the vice-captain sidelined for another couple of weeks. Although unlikely to feature this week, defenders Aidan Wilson and Dylan MacDonald are very close to a return to action.

Referee Grant Irvine is a familiar face this season, having already officiated Airdrie wins over Montrose and Morton, defeats to Partick Thistle and Queen’s Park, and a draw with Arbroath.

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.