Airdrie v Raith Rovers: Fordyce and McCabe won't let Ian Murray's New Broomfield return be distraction

Airdrie assistant boss Callum Fordyce says he and gaffer Rhys McCabe can’t let the occasion get the better of them when old gaffer Ian Murray returns to his old stomping ground with Raith Rovers on Saturday.

It is very much a case of the master taking on his apprentices when Championship leaders Raith Rovers come calling.

Thirty-one-year-olds Fordyce and McCabe stepped up from playing roles to take charge of the club when Murray took the reins at Rovers in May last year, following a failed promotion bid in League 1.

But Airdrie are now in the Championship and Saturday will be Murray’s first game at New Broomfield since he moved to Kirkcaldy, where he also took ex-Diamond fan favourites Dylan Easton and Callum Smith.

There are plenty of sub-plots that could distract Airdrie, but Fordyce insists they need to treat it like just another game – and focus on the main objective of three vital points.

He said: “There will be a wee bit more of an edge because our old manager and old players are coming back, but we can’t look at it like that and get all caught up in the occasion.

“It’s 90 minutes of football, 11 v 11. We’ll both have plans and it will be about who implements it best.

“The players just need to see it as another game. Every game is a big one, it doesn’t matter if it is the league leaders or a team at the bottom of the table.

“There’s no denying that I owe a lot to Ian Murray. He made me a better player and a better person in the game.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for him and still see him as a close friend.

“He did well for Airdrie and I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves by some people, with how well he actually did.

“He did an excellent job with the budget and the resources that he had.

“Rhys would