Dunfermline Athletic v Airdrieonians preview
22nd August 2014
Andy McNeil believes a turnaround is coming for Airdrie, and wants it to start against Dunfermline on Saturday.
The goalkeeper is one of five new signings at New Broomfield, and he acknowledges that last week's home defeat by Peterhead was a disappointing result.
"With the exception of the league cup match against Stenhousemuir we feel that we should have gotten a lot more out of the games we have played.
"The match against Peterhead was another example of that. I firmly believe that we will very quickly start winning matches and picking up points."
Despite being bookies' favourites for the League One title, Jim Jeffries' Pars have also made an inconspicuous start to the league campaign.
However, McNeil believes that opening results can be deceptive.
"Often results don't reflect how games went, so we will be going into our next match giving Dunfermline the respect they deserve.
"They are full time and have a bigger budget than we do, but I believe that if we apply ourselves properly we can come away with a good result on Saturday."
A win at East End Park would lift the Diamonds off the bottom of the league, and former Livingston stopper McNeil has no doubts that his new team should be at the other end of the table.
"Despite losing our first two league fixtures I don't think this will have a huge impact on where we will finish come May.
"I think that with the quality of our squad (and coaching staff) we should be in and around the play-off places at the end of the season."
Last Saturday's wet and windy encounter against Peterhead was a far cry from Andy's adopted home for the previous two season, New Zealand's Waibop United.
"New Zealand was a fantastic experience. I really enjoyed the relaxed lifestyle and met some fantastic people during my time there. It was a great opportunity to go across and play in their top league and sample football in another country.
"Ultimately though, I felt the standard was quite low and not competitive enough. I'm still a relatively young goalkeeper at 27 and feel I can still learn and improve - this is only going to happen if I am in a competitive environment and working with top coaches.
"Playing at Airdrie and working with Tony Bullock and the other staff members at the club, I believe that I can continue on my journey as a footballer."