Peterhead return to League 1 duty today, following their Scottish Cup clash against Premiership Dundee, when Airdrieonians visit Balmoor with Blue Toon manager Jim McInally looking for points and not plaudits.
Praise has been ringing in the ears of Peterhead squad all week for how well they played against the Dark Blues, despite losing the tie 3-0, with Jim saying: “We know that we played at a very high level on Monday night. On another night we could have won. We enhanced the reputation of the club, and that was important to do, and the players enhanced their reputations as well which was great for them.”
“We can take confidence from how we played however the hard work begins again now. We cannot go out with the attitude that ‘we matched a top-flight team’ and therefore we do not need to work as hard against Airdrie. The Dundee game is gone now, our Scottish Cup run is over and what we are out to do between now and the end of the season is not just to climb the table but win the mini-league of five that we are in now.”
The Diamonds have held the upper hand in the meetings between the teams this season with a 3-2 win at Balmoor and then a 3-1 success in Lanarkshire with Jim adding: “In the game at our place there was a gap between the sides for the first 80 minutes. Airdrie were well on top, were three up and the scoring of two late goals flattered us a bit.”
“The second game was a lot tighter and we had a game plan of getting in-behind them on the break which worked well until a minute from half-time. We made a mistake and lost a goal as a result. That forced us to change things and Airdrie made the most of the extra space in our defence in the second half.”
“Despite the score-line we felt closer to Airdrie in that game.”
To narrow the gap further on Airdrie or indeed defeat Ian Murray’s side will need a top performance with Jim saying: “They are on a great run just now and not many teams score four times against Montrose as Airdrie did last weekend. Looking at that game it was a bit strange as Airdrie did not have any corners which would seem to indicate they were not attacking however they scored four which shows how dangerous they are from open play.”
“They have also not lost a league game since December so they will be a confident side. We will look to end that run but we will not end it if we are resting on our laurels.”
Team news – Owen Cairns, Rico Quitongo and Jack Brown are all available again after being cup-tied for the Dundee game. Player/coach Simon Ferry remains out due to a back injury with Lenny Wilson (jaw), David Wilson (foot) and Gary Fraser (knee) also remaining on the side-lines.
Match Programme – https://www.peterheadfc.org/match-day-programme/
Attending the game –
STANDS: Adults: £16
Senior Citizens: £9
Juveniles: £2
Adult £14.00
Concession £7.00
The Main Stand is allocated for HOME fans and sections A, B, & C of the EAST STAND are also allocated to HOME fans.
Sections D, E, & F of the EAST STAND are allocated to AWAY fans.
GROUND: Adults: £14
Senior Citizens: £7
Juveniles: Free of Charge with Adult
All standing areas are non-segregated
TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED FROM TICKET OFFICE WHICH IS LOCATED IN MAIN STAND CAR PARK
NO PAYMENT ACCEPTED AT TURNSTILES
NO ONLINE TICKET SALES AVAILABLE
Watching the game – https://www.peterheadfc.org/video/
Match Sponsors – https://www.alandonaldltd.co.uk/
