Ally Roy opened his Airdrie account at the weekend, and now the striker wants to fire his hometown team to a Betfred Cup win over Queen’s Park.

 

The former Hearts, Derry City and Partick Thistle man has enjoyed his first few weeks with the Diamonds following his summer move to the Penny Cars Stadium.

 

“It’s been brilliant since I came to the club, it’s good being back home and playing for my local team.

 

“In terms of football I’ve been really enjoying myself, actually playing games has been great.” 

 

Roy was the main man as Airdrie stormed into a three goal lead against Clyde on Sunday, netting a first-half penalty and a close range effort either side of Adam Eckersley’s strike.

 

The Bully Wee fought back to make the final score 3-2, but Roy was pleased to contribute to a Diamonds victory.

 

“It felt good - it would have been nice to get off the mark against Partick but obviously that never happened.

 

“Scoring in the next game was the next best thing, so it was good to get a couple. Hopefully I can build on that and get some more.”

 

With two goals to his name already, Roy is thinking about targets for the season - but the Northern Ireland U21 cap is keeping the figures close to his chest.

 

“I’m quite an ambitious person, so I always set myself markers to try and hit.

 

“I’ve got a wee bit of a challenge going with my agent, so hopefully I can reach that target come the end of the season and that’ll be an extra reward for me!”

 

Roy’s next chance to increase his total comes on Wednesday evening when Airdrie welcome Queen’s Park to the Penny Cars Stadium - but it’s hardly unfamiliar territory for the Spiders, who have already played a ‘home’ game at the ground.

 

Ally is focussed on another three points to put the Diamonds in contention for progression from Group F.

 

“I think it’ll be quite similar to Sunday to be honest. We need to go and win if we want to progress in the cup.

 

“It’ll be good to play our first game in front of our own home fans, so hopefully we can get the win and put ourselves in a good position ahead of the Hamilton game on Saturday.”

 

Manager Ian Murray added: “We’re fully aware that Queen’s Park will provide a very tough test for us.

 

“I watched them against Partick and they did very well, their work-rate was excellent and they were unlucky not to take something from the game.”

 

Former Queen’s Park midfielder Kurtis Roberts and goalkeeper Reece Willison are both likely to miss out for the Diamonds, but it is hoped that Andrew McNeil and Kyle MacDonald may have recovered from injury in time to make the squad.

 

The Queen’s Park line-up may include former Airdrie keeper Willie Muir, who rejoined the Spiders in the summer. The Hampden side are managed by ex-Diamond Mark Roberts.

 

Lloyd Wilson referees the tie, which kicks off at 7:45pm.