Forfar manager Gary Bollan has told his players to ignore the managerial upheaval surrounding Airdrie at Station Park today as the Diamonds will come out fighting.
The Lanarkshire club will have former East Fife boss Willie Aitchison in charge as director of football Gordon Dalziel has returned to his media work, with assistant coach Donald Jennow expected to leave next week.
Bollan is warning his men that while his former club look to be in disarray they will come out determined to win.
He said: “Regardless of what is going on at the club there is always a good spirit in Airdrie teams and they will not give anything up easily.
“They lost heavily at St Mirren last weekend but that makes them even more dangerous opponents for us as they will be looking to bounce back.
“Airdrie had a good result against Stranraer earlier in their Betfred Cup group and that is another indicator over how tough our job will be.”
As for his Loons, Bollan said: “We are in reasonable shape and we are looking forward to the league starting.
“We had Airdrie watched last week and saw a few things that we can work on.”
Forfar failed to win any of their games in the Betfred group.
However, Bollan is determined to move on quickly as he explained: “We could not ask for any more than a home game to start life in League One and it would be great to get off to a winning start.
“We did well against Inverness Caledonian Thistle last weekend and were unlucky to lose 2-1. There were plenty of positives for us to take from that game.”
Full-back Connor Quigley has been added on loan from Dundee and Michael Kennedy is available after injury.
However, Murray Mackintosh remains out, with Bollan saying: “I am hoping to add another player to the pool soon to bolster our defence further.”
