Airdrie ace Dylan MacDonald goes from fitting bathrooms to sinking Raith Rovers with dream Championship debut

Airdrie defender Dylan MacDonald was fitting bathrooms this time last season as a part-time player at East Kilbride.

But not for a second did he believe his dream of full-time senior football had been flushed away.

The former St Mirren youth player took the decision to leave the Saints two years ago so he could pursue first team football in the Lowland League with Kilby.

And now that is really paying dividends after he backed up his summer switch to the Diamonds with a goal on his league debut to sink Raith Rovers on Saturday.

As well as ensuring there were no leaks in the Airdrie defence with a clean sheet, MacDonald was on target in the 76th minute to glance home a diving header from Lewis McGregor's cross in the 1-0 win.

While the 20-year-old admits he can barely believe how quickly things have turned around, he admits all the hard graft has paid off, now he is making a name for himself in the Championship.

He said: "I was ripping out and fitting bathrooms when I was at East Kilbride, working for a pal, but my aim was always to try and get back to full-time football.

"It was tough but I got there in the end so it was all worth it, putting in all the extra work. Going to training after my work and stuff like that made it a lot harder, but I always believed I could get back.

"Last year at East Kilbride, it was a different role for me and that improved me a lot as a player. I was playing full-back, inverted at times and sometimes coming forward, and that was what Airdrie wanted, so I sort of fitted the role here.

"Coming out of St Mirren was the best thing for me, so I could go and get first-team football to prove myself. As we can see, now that I am back up a level, I have proved myself and I just want to get higher up.