Airdrie boss Ian Murray insists Clyde still hold a potent threat ahead of tomorrow's meeting at New Broomfield, despite the Bully Wee having lost talisman David Goodwillie last month.
Goodwillie left Clyde on January 31 for a controversial move to Raith Rovers that will now be scrapped, following a backlash from fans of the Kirkcaldy club relating to the striker’s past. He was ruled a rapist in a civil court in 2017, although he never faced criminal charges.
Since Goodwillie’s departure, Clyde have yet to win a match but he helped them earn a 2-2 draw when Airdrie last faced them on January 25, and bagged a penalty in a 2-1 loss for Clyde at New Broomfield earlier in the season.
The striker netted 17 times in 25 games for the Bully Wee, but Murray insists the loss of Goodwillie won’t make his side’s task any easier when Clyde come calling on Saturday.
He said: “David is a very good player and did remarkably well for Clyde in the five years that he was there.
“He scored a couple of goals against us and when you lose someone of his ability, it’s going to hit your team, of course it is, but that doesn’t mean to say Clyde aren’t capable of doing well without him and winning games.
“I think if we thought it was just David Goodwillie we had to worry about the last two or three seasons we’d have been in big trouble.
“We knew we had to keep him quiet, but that’s just like any striker we play against.
"Clyde are a decent outfit and showed that with their fighting ability when they were down to us last time.
“I’m full of respect for Clyde and [boss] Danny Lennon, and it will be extremely difficult on Saturday, but we believe we can win it.”
There was plenty of drama in the sides’ last meeting with all four goals in the 2-2 draw at Broadwood coming in the final 18 minutes – and Clyde denied Airdrie the win with an 88th minute equaliser.
Murray, whose side are 10 games unbeaten now in League One, is determined to make up for that disappointment after Saturday’s win at Peterhead kept them five points behind leaders Cove.
He added: “We played exceptionally well against Clyde that night and drew the game, but on Saturday we were below par and still won the gamec, so that’s football.
”But we are looking to finish off the third quarter of the season with a really high points total.”
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