Aidan Wilson put in a top performance on his return to action after six months on the sidelines – and the defender is ready to face Ayr United at the venue where his injury nightmare began.

Airdrie’s vice-captain managed the entirety of Tuesday evening’s home win over Raith Rovers following a lengthy spell out with knee ligament damage, and was understandably delighted to pick up three points on his return.

“That’s what you work hard for, that’s why you do the rehab. It’s been a long time, and it’s been tough.

“We’re just delighted to get the three points and close the gap.”

A solid defensive display, with Wilson slotting in alongside January signing Alex Bannon at centre-back, yielded a clean sheet against Tuesday’s visitors Raith, with substitute Lewis McGrattan’s second half screamer handing the Diamonds a valuable victory.

Wilson says the win was merited after a battling performance.

“I thought it was a tight game, Raith set up really well to press us and we found it difficult to get out – but I think we probably showed a different side to us, that we can mix it, we can go longer and we can be effective.

“I thought we played well within the game, and we probably deserved the three points in the end.”

Wilson and his team-mates now face another difficult tie against third-placed Ayr United. The Somerset Park side have enjoyed the upper hand over Airdrie in recent times, with a 5-0 victory in the last meeting in Ayrshire.

George Oakley and a brace apiece for Jay Henderson and Anton Dowds handed the Honest Men that convincing win in August, but it took a wonder-strike from Dylan Watret to separate the sides when they met at the Albert Bartlett Stadium in October.

Aidan knows exactly how difficult Saturday’s tie is likely to be – but hopes the Diamonds can turn the tables and earn a positive result.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game down there, they’re good at home – but I think we can take bits from that game. We’ll need that going down there.

“We’ve got to focus on ourselves, we’ve got to go down there and try to play our game. We know it’s going to be tough, but we’ll go down there and try to get a result.”

Rhys McCabe has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the tie, but the Airdrie player-manager hinted at changes in the middle of a hectic couple of weeks of fixtures.

“Obviously they’re flying high in the league and up at the top end of the table, so they’ll be looking to use that home advantage and try to get three points to end the season well. We’re on a good run of form ourselves, and we’ll be going there with the ambition to get the three points also.

“It’s been a pattern since we’ve managed to have that luxury of getting the full squad available that everybody will be used at some point – whether it’s certain games or certain minutes in games, and Saturday will be no different.

“We’ve got to take everything into consideration – Ayr’s strengths, areas of weakness where we think we can hurt them – and to try to get three points doesn’t mean it’s just going to be the starting XI which won tonight.”

Referee Euan Anderson is in charge of his fourth Airdrie tie this season, having previously officiated the home league defeat to Hamilton in November and both cup ties away to Dundee.

Match tickets are available using the link below, and our DiamondsTV video (subscribers outwith the UK and Ireland) and audio (pay-per-match worldwide) streams are available.

Ayr United fans have organised a minute’s applause in the 51st minute of Saturday’s match, in memory of supporter Tam Watters who sadly passed away last weekend at the age of 51. Diamonds supporters travelling to match are invited to join in to pay their respects to a much-loved fellow football fan.