Hibs loanee's debut was a bright spot on a dull day for Airdrie, admits boss

Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe says a late debut for recent signing Kanayo Megwa was among the few positives for his Diamonds after defeat to Ayr on Saturday.

Goals from Logan Chalmers and Anton Dowds had Ayr 2-0 up and seemingly cruising, before Lewis McGregor pulled one back in 67 minutes, but the Diamonds couldn’t find an equaliser.

Airdrie were dealt a blow early on as defender Cammy Ballantyne was forced off through injury, presenting on-loan Hibs stopper Megwa with his debut.

So that and a handful of performances were all that McCabe could take from a frustrating afternoon, which saw their perfect home record in the Championship come to a halt.

He said: “It’s not ideal, an experienced defender [being injured]. Cammy made a slide tackle in the early part of the game and says when he stood up he felt a shooting pain through his calf, so we will need to assess that and see where he’s at.

“It was an opportunity for Kanayo to come on, and I think he took 10-15 minutes to get up to speed, but in the second half he got up to speed.

“You forget that he’s only been in the building a short period of time. A lot of these lads have been here two years with me, they’ve understood the way I want to play, and for him to come in, in a short period, he’s done well.

“In the second half he was playing almost like an inverted full-back, was getting a lot of possession, a lot of joy.

“I thought with him and wee Liam McStravick, and Murray Aiken on that right side, we had the overload and a bit of quality came down that right side in the second half.

“Kanayo will take pleasure in that, getting his first minutes for the club.

“But, ultimately, you never deserve to win a game when you start as poorly as that.”

McCabe says Airdrie’s home record