Airdrie legend looking to heap more misery on managerless former club with Queen's Park

Sean Crighton spent two spells at Airdrie and was a coach at the Diamonds, but is determined to steer the Spiders to three points

Queen’s Park boss Sean Crighton insists returning to Airdrie as a hero won’t stop him from doing everything he can to dump the Diamonds on Saturday.

Crighton spent two spells at Airdrie as a player from 2015 to 16, and 2018-21, during which time he operated as a coach.

And though he has sympathy for a situation that saw Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe resign on Friday, Crighton is fully focused on tangling the Diamonds in the Spiders’ web.

Having a blank weekend, Queen’s Park hosted Premiership side Dundee in a friendly on Thursday of last week, drawing 1-1, in preparation.

He said: “Any club you go back to as a player or a manager, there’s always a feeling of excitement.

“I had a good spell at Airdrie, but at the end of the day I have a job to do, I’m Queen’s Park’s manager, I’m not Airdrie’s manager or player, so I need to make sure that the players know it’s not about me, it’s about them, and that they’re ready to go.

“You don’t go into any game not trying to get three points. There have been periods where we’ve done well in games, and we need to eradicate the mistakes.

“Against Dundee we did that in abundance, and showed that we can definitely be a good team.

“But Airdrie are a good side. I know Rhys is away, but they’ve got good players who can hurt you, they have a lot of energy and want to play football, so I’m expecting a tough game, like any in the Championship.

“But our aim is to go there to upset the dynamic, and get three points.”

On McCabe’s situation, Crighton said: “I can’t really comment on it, I don’t really know what has gone on, but at the end of the day I need to worry about us.

“It’s never ideal when you play against a team that has just lost their manager, sometimes they get that bounce, etc, but we need to concentrate on ourselves.”

Crighton wasn’t happy with his side after a 3-1 defeat at home to Arbroath a fortnight ago, and took the bounce game against Dundee, with Tyrece McDonnell levelling a second-minute strike by the visitors.

The former Livingston and Morton defender is looking for a reaction at New Broomfield.

“It’s a massive game,” said the 35-year-old. “I know it’s the early part of the season, but it’s a huge game for us.

“Against Arbroath we did okay, but at the end of the day we didn’t win the game, so now we have to try and get three points.

“We’re looking for a reaction.”