Chris Mochrie says victory is the only acceptable outcome on Saturday as Airdrie kick off the final quarter of the league campaign against rivals Hamilton Academical.

The Diamonds remain bottom of the Championship table going into the last round of fixtures, but a derby win over Accies would bring them back within eight points of their neighbours.

The match ends a run of four games in two weeks for Airdrie, who ended that sequence with a disappointing 3-0 home defeat to league leaders Falkirk on Tuesday evening.

Although the Diamonds’ performance came up short, there was also a slice of luck about Falkirk’s first-half goals, with the officials missing a barge on Aidan Wilson which led to the defender heading into his own net for the opener before a wind-assisted cross looped into the top corner for the second.

Speaking after the match, Mochrie bemoaned the goals which turned the game in the Bairns’ favour.

“I thought we started quite well, but after the second goal goes in we just fell out the game.

“We’ve just got to focus on Saturday now, and try to play well.“

All eyes will be on the Albert Bartlett Stadium as the Lanarkshire derby could have a huge bearing on final league positions as the sides scrap for Championship survival.

Hamilton’s superior position is in no small part due to two wins against Airdrie – though the sides drew 2-2 in their first meeting, Aaron Reid and Murray Aiken bagging late goals to cancel out Oli Shaw’s double at New Douglas Park.

November’s fixture in Airdrie was a closer thing than Accies’ 4-0 victory would suggest, Connor Smith, a Sam Graham own goal, Kevin O’Hara and Dylan McGowan hitting the net on an afternoon where nothing went right for the Diamonds.

There was late heartbreak in the festive fixture back in Hamilton, with Airdrie twice coming from behind through Mochrie and Gavin Gallagher only for Oli Shaw to grab a 90th-minute winner after he and Stuart McKinstry had already netted for the home side.

Mochrie expects another difficult challenge, but believes the Diamonds have yet to fulfil their potential in the fixture.

“It’ll be a tough game like it always is, they’re a good, well-structured team.

“I think if we bring the way we can play to the game, there’s no doubt we’re capable of getting the win.“

And while Airdrie are not quite drinking in the last-chance saloon yet, Chris knows that the relative league positions of the teams makes this meeting feel like a do-or-die affair.

“It’s a massive game, and it’s one we probably all know we need to win coming off the back of two poor results.

“I think the main thing we can do is just go and have belief.

“We’ve been unfortunate the last couple of times we’ve played Hamilton, so we’ve just got to go in as confident as we can and go for the three points.”

Diamonds boss Rhys McCabe also looked ahead to the tie following Tuesday’s match.

“Hamilton have come off the back of two positive results, but we’ve put ourselves in a position where we’ve got to approach every game as a must-win.

“It’s got to be full throttle, home or away, regardless of who we’re playing. We’ve got make sure that we’re chasing, and getting, those three points – because we know the situation that we’re in.

“We have to make sure that we’re laser-focused and we’re going into every game with the mindset that we’ve got to claw that gap back and we’re going into must-win games.”

An ankle injury sustained by Dean McMaster during the match against Falkirk will be assessed ahead of the match, while there are no other new injury concerns within the squad.

Referee Steven McLean is in charge of the derby clash, his first fixture involving Airdrie this season.

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