Kevin McNaughton reckons Dundee North End have free hit against Airdrieonians in the Scottish Cup

Kevin McNaughton reckons Dundee North End have a free hit when they take on Airdrie in Sunday's Scottish Cup clash.

The Dundee junior champions have already surpassed expectations by getting to the second round of the competition proper, taking out Tayport, Tranent and Highland League Inverurie Locos to get to this stage. Co-manager McNaughton reckons the pressure is off and there is no expectation on his side when Championship strugglers Airdrie visit North End Park in their second round tie.

The former Scotland and Aberdeen star has seen it all before but this week has been a bit different with everyone connected to his ambitious junior club. McNaughton said: “We won the league last season which gets us into the Scottish Cup which is the first time for the club. We've done well. We've obviously had a couple of teams who are ranked higher than us but we've managed to get results.

“This is obviously that step further with Airdrie being three or four leagues above us. It's a free hit for us really.”

McNaughton, who is joint manager with Lewis Toshney, hopes the fact that Dundee and Dundee United are playing on Saturday will add a few more to their gate and he has promised they won’t be disappointed. “We play some decent football,” he stated. “I know Airdrie are the same. I've watched quite a lot of their games.

“They do actually play a half decent brand of football. They've struggled at both ends of the park really from what I've seen. We'll go about the job the same way we've been going about it all season. We do try to play from the back and things like that.”

McNaughton reckons North End are already winners regardless of what happens against the Diamonds. He said: “It's a boost for the club financially as well. We'll