Airdrie face Peterhead in Saturday’s League One opener, and Paul McKay is hoping he’s started a scoring streak just in time for the new campaign.

The 23-year-old has featured in a more advanced midfield role in the Diamonds’ recent fixtures, and his efforts were rewarded in midweek when he grabbed Airdrie’s opener in the 2-0 Betfred Cup win at Stenhousemuir.

The win - sealed late on by substitute Craig Thomson - came after a home defeat to Alloa Athletic in the same competition and an unbeaten pre-season schedule. With the League One season getting underway this weekend, McKay can’t wait to get started.

“Everyone’s looking forward to it - it’s been a long time coming and we can’t wait to get started!

“The pre-season and Betfred games have all been competitive, which is good preparation.

“As well as the new boys coming in, the rest of us had been off for nearly seven months, so those games were important. I think by Tuesday night we had started getting back to our usual selves.”

McKay bagged four goals during his debut season for Airdrie, typically finishing after surging runs from deep positions. This campaign sees fewer matches on the fixture list, but the former Cardiff City man hopes to better that tally - starting against Peterhead.

“It’s something the gaffer and Stuart had spoken to me about, adding more goals to my game.

“I did score a few last year, but I felt myself I could have got more and that’s definitely something I’m looking to do this season.

“My goals tend to come in bursts, so hopefully Tuesday night was the start of a scoring run!”

The Diamonds recorded three wins over Jim McInally’s Blue Toon last season, with 2-1 wins in October and December before securing a 2-0 victory at Balmoor in February.

Paul concedes that Airdrie had to work hard for those results, and expects a similar situation on Saturday.

“They’re an experienced side who are always well organised, and they have some very good players.

“It’ll be a tough test, but we’re ready for everyone this year.”

Manager Ian Murray added: “We’re looking forward to it, the games against Peterhead last season were close but we had a good record against them with three victories.

“They were tough games to win, and we expect the same again.”

The Diamonds boss adds loan striker Kyle Connell to his squad, while Ally Roy (wrist) remains sidelined.

Supporters can watch the game on our DTVLive streaming platform using the link below.