Airdrie star hopes he can help Diamonds sting the Wasps in cup clash

Salim Kouider-Aissa hopes his strike in Airdrie's 5-0 thumping of Clyde last weekend means his injury woes are behind him and he can grab a starting place against Alloa this evening.

The Diamonds travel to the Indodrill to face Brian Rice's Wasps in the SPFL Trust Trophy third round tonight and 26-year-old striker Kouider-Aissa hopes to have done enough to impress boss Rhys McCabe.

Having endured nine months out with a knee injury, the former Queen's Park star is very much on the mend, with two goals in seven games this season.

Kouider-Aissa, who netted nine minutes after climbing off the bench in 81 minutes on Saturday, told Airdrie's website: "I'm feeling good, training well, and it was obviously nice to get a goal at the weekend, get on the pitch and get a few minutes.

"I just need to build up the minutes and then hopefully start looking to start games.

"It has been a long time I've been out, obviously I prefer being around the squad and playing on a Saturday.

"Hopefully it's going to be a good opportunity on Friday in the cup.

"My fitness in training is there. Game-time hasn't come the way I wanted it to, but I'm just being patient and as the games come it will hopefully build up.

"I just need to knuckle down, keep my head down and keep working hard in training."

Airdrie beat Alloa 2-0 at New Broomfield on August 20, but Kouider-Aissa expects a tough game.

He said: "It's a team in our league so it's definitely going to be a tough game.

"They're not going to be any pushovers. We need to go there, work hard and graft, put the work in, and hopefully we'll be rewarded for it.

"The boys have been playing well, and it was good to bounce back from a not-so-good result a couple of weeks ago.

"We've got a good rhythm and