Simon Mensing says it's all about the Diamonds when Peterhead come to visit on Saturday.

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The big defender impressed on his debut at Stenhousemuir last weekend, although the result wasn't what Airdrie had hoped for.

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Now the experienced centre-back is ready to face the Blue Toon after checking in at New Broomfield following a spell in the states.

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Explaining his arrival in North Lanarkshire, Mensing said: "The club were aware of my situation as I was looking to get back home, and they invited me in to train for a while.

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"We've got a young, talented squad eager to learn and improve. The lads have been great with me since I've come in."

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Mensing needed no introduction to the Airdrie fans, having faced the club numerous times across spells with Clyde, St.Johnstone, Raith Rovers and Livingston. His Diamonds debut came against another of his former clubs, Stenhousemuir.

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"It was a weird game. Even though we conceded four goals, two of them were deflections and their fourth came when we were pushing for the equaliser.

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"I felt very comfortable, and their front two didn't really threaten us. Even when we went down to ten men I still felt the game was there for us.

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"That said, we conceded four goals and that needs to be improved in the coming weeks. I'm sure it will."

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With Jim McInally's Peterhead visiting New Broomfield on the back of an impressive 4-0 win over Queen's Park, Simon knows one surefire way to improve on last week's result.

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"Being harder to beat and keeping clean sheets is the key. If we do that as a team there's no doubt we'll win games, as we score goals!

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"But we can't keep relying on our attacking players to score three or four goals a game to have a chance to win."

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With the sides meeting twice already this season, the honours are even so far. The Blue Toon were victorious on their last visit, winning 3-1 in front of the BBC ALBA cameras in October.

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Airdrie got revenge in the return fixture in December, running out 4-2 winners in an exciting match at Balmoor.

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With talismanic striker Rory McAllister back in the Peterhead squad, Mensing is expection another tough shift - but insists the Diamonds fate is in their own hands.

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"I'm pretty sure I've faced Rory once or twice. There's no doubt he's a threat and someone we should be aware of.

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"That said, it's about us and we need to do everything we can to get the three points".

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Referee Craig Charleston is in charge, having previously officiated Airdrie's 1-0 home win over Stranraer back in August.