Airdrie United v Saints Preview

Last updated : 15 April 2005 By Stuart Gillespie
I very much doubt it as Airdrie United are far better than Raith Rovers and probably wee a bit better than Queen of the South. Plus we're away from home, which is obviously going to be much more difficult.

Then there's the Owen Coyle factor. The ageing striker has been around for ages and often scores against Saints. With him being announced as the new St. Johnstone manager today, tomorrow will be his last match for Airdrie. That should ensure he scores at least one goal and ends our fine run of clean sheets.

Former Saint Mark Roberts has already denied us a win this season, his last minute draw against us at Love Street in September meaning we only managed a point, though in truth we were poor that day. Our former players often score against us so it wouldn't surprise me if he scored tomorrow.

We've just one injury problem for tomorrow, with Mixu Paatelainen still out. Everyone else should be fit enough to play, including recent absentees Kevin McGowne and Alan Reid. Hopefully, with the game effectively meaningless, we will blood a few young players such as Craig Molloy and David McKenna.

3-0 is extremely unlikely tomorrow, and with it being Coyle's last game we'll be lucky to get a clean sheet as well. I reckon an Airdrie 1-0 win, Coyle scoring of course.