David Hutton feels that Airdrie were unjustly beaten last weekend - and says the squad are determined to get back on top of the table.

 

The Diamonds went down 1-0 to Raith Rovers in a controversial match at Stark’s Park which saw both sides finish with nine men after three red cards and an injury, with Airdrie also denied a penalty in the dying minutes.

 

Those flashpoints aside, goalkeeper Hutton doesn’t believe that Airdrie deserved to lose.

 

“I thought we should have taken something from the game, Raith only had a couple of shots - they hit the post with one and then Kieran MacDonald has shanked one in the box and it’s hit someone and gone in!

 

“The refereeing decisions didn’t go our way either, but that’s football. Maybe on another day a decision will go our way and it will even itself up.”

 

The Raith win saw the Kirkcaldy side leapfrog Airdrie into first place in the League One table, but with the halfway point in the season yet to arrive, there’s a long way to go.

 

Hutton says there’s more to come from the Diamonds.

 

“I think we’ve got more to give - we can still go up another gear and we’re all confident.

 

“With Raith and Falkirk playing each other this weekend it gives us a good chance to make amends straight away, so we need to dust ourselves down and get on with it.

 

“Results elsewhere will take care of themselves, we just need to make sure we keep picking up wins.”

 

Airdrie’s first opportunity to do that comes with Saturday’s visit of Peterhead. The sides met at Balmoor in October with Calum Gallagher and David Ferguson trading first-half goals before Dale Carrick’s 75th-minute penalty won it for the Diamonds.

 

The Blue Toon moved up to seventh spot last weekend with an excellent 3-0 win over Stranraer, and Hutton knows he’ll be facing a frontline with real quality.

 

“Peterhead are a hard-working side with some experienced boys, so we know it’s going to be a hard game. They’ve got two great goalscorers in Rory McAllister and Derek Lyle, so we need to be wary of them.

 

“Without being disrespectful I don’t think we need to worry about other teams - we just need to take care of ourselves.

 

“We’ve worked hard to get where we are, so we’re not going to give it up easily and we go into this one with confidence.”

 

Manager Ian Murray added:  “It’s another tough one for us. In the game up there I felt it was on a knife-edge until we got the penalty.

 

“Peterhead will be confident after a great win against Stranraer last week and both teams will be giving their all to win.”

 

The Diamonds boss is without Craig Thomson (arm) and Charlie Reilly, who requires further assessment on his ankle injury, although x-rays have ruled out a break.

 

Defender Callum Fordyce is available for selection after an appeal hearing overturned his red card at Raith, with the punishment reduced to a caution.

 

Referee Lloyd Wilson visits the Penny Cars Stadium for the second time this season, having previously been in charge of the 2-2 Betfred Cup draw with Queen’s Park in July.