Liam McLeish grabbed his first Airdrie goal at the weekend – and the striker expects another tough test when Airdrie travel to Dumbarton for the KDM Evolution Trophy group stage opener on Tuesday.

McLeish equalised from the spot after East Kilbride had taken a second-half lead in the weekend’s League 1 match, winning and then converting the penalty to level the tie.

It was a pleasing moment for the big frontman, who has been limited to three substitute appearances after succumbing to illness immediately after signing up at the Albert Bartlett.

Speaking after Saturday’s match 22-year-old confirmed that he is well on the road to recovery.

“I’m getting there. It’s been a bit of a nightmare since I signed – the night that I signed I ended up with food poisoning, and I maybe came back too soon and got a couple of wee niggles.

“It’s frustrating after working hard in pre-season, getting yourself in good condition, and then you’re out the game for a week or two!

“It sets you back a bit, but the training here is tough and hopefully I can get more minutes on the pitch to build up my match fitness. That’s ultimately where you get your sharpness.“

With a gruelling seven matches in August, McLeish will be hoping to have played himself into contention for a start on Tuesday evening.

Dumbarton are the opponents as Airdrie enter the KDM Evolution Trophy group stage for the first time, but despite the Sons plying their trade in League 2, McLeish expects them to provide a stern test.

“I think it’ll be a tough game, they’ve got a strong team. They’ll be confident after winning today, that’s a great result for them. They’ll be aggressive, it’s like most games – it’s nothing that we won’t be prepared for.

“It’s obviously a game that we want to go and win, especially with it being the start of the group stage campaign, but I don’t think they’ll make it easy for us.

And with the league action resuming next weekend, Liam believes that a midweek win could start the ball rolling as the Diamonds look to build momentum.

“You want to win every game, don’t you? If you get the three points in the cup, it gives you something to build on.

“Fingers crossed we can go and first of all put in a good performance, and hopefully that’s enough to get us the win.”

Also speaking after the East Kilbride match, assistant manager Declan Gallagher was on the same page regarding the importance of a cup victory.

“We go into the game looking to get that first win and build momentum. Right now I think we’re in a good place, we know we’ve got a lot of hard games coming up in the league so we obviously want to get off to a winning start in the cup.

“Listen, it’s going to be a hard game, we’re under no illusions. They’ve got good pros down there – I know Leighton McIntosh really well from my time at Dundee, he’s a big handful.

“They’ll be up for the battle, and they’ve brought in some players from Celtic’s youth team so I’d imagine that they’ll be looking to play some nice football as well. It’s up to us to go down there and stamp our authority early doors.”

Mason Chisholm, Cole McKinnon and Zac Butterworth are still expected to miss out through injury with changes likely as the Diamonds management team continue through a busy month.

Referee Jamie Wilkie is the man in the middle at The Rock.

Match tickets are available using the link below, and will also be available from the ticket window at the ground (cash and card accepted). Visiting fans will enter via home end turnstiles 1 and 2. Turnstiles are cashless.

The stadium bar will be open from 6:15pm, and is accessed only by entering via the turnstiles.

Our DiamondsTV video stream is available to subscribers outwith the UK and Ireland. We are unfortunately unable to provide a commentary stream for this fixture.