Airdrie and Dunfermline Athletic played out a goalless draw at East End Park, with the Diamonds facing a relegation play-off as things stand.

There were four changes for Airdrie following last weekend’s defeat at the hands of Greenock Morton, player-manager Rhys McCabe dropping out alongside Alex Bannon, Gavin Gallagher and Ben Wilson. Sam Graham, Lewis Strapp, Rhys Armstrong and Ricco Diack were the players to step in.

Chris Mochrie looked lively for the Diamonds in the early stages, bursting forward in the second minute only to be outnumbered after a strong defensive recovery by Neil Lennon’s side.

The former Dunfermline loanee had another go two minutes later, this time foiled by Tommy Fogarty’s excellent block before Liam McStravick sent the loose ball over the top.

Dunfermline responded in the seventh minute, Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen joining the attack and teeing up Ewan Otoo for a shot, but Dean McMaster nipped in and won possession before the midfielder could make contact.

Graham ended a good Kieran Ngwenya run with an important interception on 13 minutes, and Kane Ritchie-Hosler saw a cross from the right clip the bar four minutes later.

Diack’s header on Mochrie’s 24th-minute cross prevented Adam Frizzell from getting a sight at goal, with the home defence then dealing with a promising Dylan MacDonald cross after good interplay between Mochrie and Frizzell.

Tobi Oluwayemi made the first save of note on 26 minutes, getting down well to smother Mason Hancock’s snap shot after more tidy footwork from Mochrie.

Airdrie’s best spell of the match followed, Benedictus heading a curling Frizzell effort off the line on 28 minutes, the Diamonds skipper having nicked possession from Oluwayemi, the Dunfermline keeper holding MacDonald’s header as Airdrie continued the attack.

Frizzell saw an effort blocked for a corner after racing through the middle to beat the offside trap, and the Diamonds were convinced they had opened the scoring on the half-hour mark, claiming Hancock’s header had crossed the line before being thumped clear, but the referee and linesman disagreed.

Cade Melrose held a Craig Clay effort on 33 minutes, claiming a good cross two minutes later before punching out a whipped corner kick six minutes before the break.

Hancock went close again as half-time approached, beating Oluwayemi with an angled strike but unable to keep the effort inside the post.

With both sides’ momentum interrupted by the interval, a scrappy second-half followed with a series of fouls and substitutions meaning there was no real flow to the match.

Graham calmly foiled an early attack by the home side, with Oluwayemi beating Diack to a cross at the other end.

Otoo almost benefitted from MacDonald’s 49th-minute stumble, but Strapp got back to clear the former Celtic man’s cutback.

Melrose punched out another corner kick on 51 minutes before being barged to the deck by Chris Kane five minutes later. Hancock saw yellow for sticking up for his team-mate, as did Strapp following a bout of argy-bargy with the Pars striker.

Otoo fired wide on 66 minutes with the visitors asking questions as to why a bad foul on Mochrie went unpunished, and Strapp was on hand to deny Kane with a sliding block two minutes later.

Oluwayemi gathered after a heavy touch from substitute Gallagher, whose neat one-two with Armstrong deserved better on 79 minutes.

Mochrie looked to be in on goal a minute later only to be sent flying by Oluwayemi, but the Dunfermline goalkeeper emerged with the ball in his hands having saved well.

Pars sub David Wotherspoon drew a good reaction save from Melrose with a powerful effort inside the last ten minutes, and Kane and Frizzell exchanged off-target efforts as the second half drew to a goalless conclusion.

The point ensured Dunfermline’s Championship safety, as did Queen’s Park’s after their draw at Ayr United, meaning barring any change to the current situation, the Diamonds will face a play-off for survival after next Friday’s match against Ayr United.