Montrose boss Stewart Petrie hopes his side can put past play-off experience to good use when they face Airdrie.
The Angus side will welcome Ian Murray’s team to Links Park on Tuesday night before the deciding leg at the Excelsior Stadium on Saturday.
A third-place finish in League One saw the Gable Endies reach the Championship play-offs for the third year in a row.
Third time lucky in play-offs?
Petrie’s men suffered late heartbreak at Morton last season going down 4-3 on aggregate.
They were on track for a play-off spot in the cancelled 2019/20 season and lost out to Queen of the South the year before that.
He hopes his experienced side can make it third time lucky.
“The bulk of the squad has been with us for six years,” he told Courier Sport.
“We’re hoping we can all draw on past experiences, staff included, going into these games.
“Sometimes it might just come down to a bit of brilliance or an individual error, or even one team better than the other, but we’re hoping to be competitive in the next 180 minutes.
“You want to challenge yourself with the best and play as high as you can.
“For Montrose, the highest level we can play at is the Championship. We’ve come close on a few occasions without getting too close.”
Airdrie threat
The side is just four games away from realising that Championship dream. First up is the North Lanarkshire side who haven’t lost a league game this calendar year.
Ironically, their last defeat came at the hands of Montrose at the beginning of December.
But Petrie believes all of the form and past clashes go out of the window for the play-offs.
“We’re not underestimating Airdrie,” he said.
“Ian has got them going really well, going 20 games unbeaten. That tells you everything you need to know about how good they are.
“But these are two totally different games. The games have been close, apart from the 4-1 recently but I felt that flattered them a bit.
“If it had been any other season, Airdrie would have won the league, it’s just how well Cove put that run together.
“To go more than the second half of the season unbeaten is a credit to Ian and his boys.
“But it’s two one-off games, so we have a chance.”
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