Callum Smith says it’s vital for Airdrie to get their League One campaign off to a good start – because not doing that cost them the title last season.
The Diamonds head up to Peterhead on Saturday for their curtain raiser, and Smith hopes they can come back to Lanarkshire with all three points.
Last season it took Airdrie until their fourth league game to bag a win – ironically a 3-2 result at Peterhead – with an 3-0 opening day defeat to Montrose followed by a 2-2 draw at Dumbarton and a 2-1 defeat to Falkirk.
That was followed by a run of 12 games with just two defeats, with several more of those throughout the season taking the New Broomfield club to the Premiership play-off final, which they lost to Queen’s Park.
With a visit by Falkirk looming in a fortnight, followed by clashes against Queen of the South and Alloa, Smith says it’s imperative to get off to a flier.
“It’s very important to get off to a good start,” he said. “Last season we didn’t start well and that’s what ultimately probably killed us in the end.
“I think in the first three or four games of the season we lost two and drew one, and never had a good start.
“So I think this season getting a good start is very important, because we know what can happen if we don’t.”
Airdrie took 10 points from 12 against Peterhead last season, and Smith hopes to keep that record going.
He said: “Peterhead is always a hard place to go. Everyone who goes up there knows they’re going to get a hard game, and the journey doesn’t help either.
“We’re going up confident. We know Peterhead are a good side who always manage to do well in the league, but we’ll approach the game just as we normally do.
“We always want to keep the ball and dictate the game – that’s the way the gaffer wants us to play now.
“We want to score goals and hopefully win the game in the end. That’s what we’re going up to do.”
Changes at Airdrie during the summer saw boss Ian Murray and assistant Scott Agnew leave for Championship side Raith Rovers, and take top star Dylan Easton with them.
Rhys McCabe was handed the manager’s job and he’s assisted by defender and captain Callum Fordyce, but several players also left for pastures new, while loan deals ended.
But Smith says they’re still confident they can challenge for the League One title.
He said: “We’re confident. We know we had a good season last season and we fell short just at the last hurdle, but we’ve still got most of the group of boys that were there.
“I think if we add another few we’re reasonably confident, and the way we’ve been playing in pre-season has shown that.
“We played St Mirren in the Premier Sports Cup, gave them a really good game and beat them 2-0, so it’s all to play for.
“We feel confident, going into it.
“I think, overall, it has been a good start to the season.
“It was always going to be hard to gel the team right away, there were a lot of changes at the club during the break.
“I feel that squad-wise just now we’re still a wee bit slim, we’ve still got a few bodies to bring in, and the gaffer knows that.
“But I think we’re looking strong for the start of the season.”
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