Airdrie star Calum Gallagher hopes he can continue to be prolific in the ‘most competitive league in Scotland’ next season - even if his favourite team to play against are no longer in the division.
The striker scored 16 goals in last season’s League One campaign and five of them came against relegated East Fife, a side he has netted 14 times in as many outings against them during his career.
With the Bayview men no longer a direct rival, Gallagher has joked he will have to find a new opponent to make life a misery for this season, as Airdrie aim to win promotion after finishing second last term and losing in the play-off final to Queen’s Park.
Gallagher said: “I’m sorry to see them go. It was always nice having that in the back pocket, but my aim is to pick another team to have that good rub of the green with.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to take another scalp at some point.
“For the team it’s just a case of continuing our good work from last year, making small changes and hitting the ground running sooner than we did last year.
“Hopefully we can get back into our natural groove of winning games.”
The Diamonds will kick-off their League One campaign under new player-boss Rhys McCabe away to Peterhead after the SPFL released the fixtures last week.
Having missed out in the Championship play-off final, Airdrie’s bid to reach the second tier has gotten a whole lot tougher with Queen of the South and Dunfermline dropping down from the Championship, while Kelty Hearts won promotion from League Two.
Throw in full-time Falkirk and last season’s play-off semi-finalists Montrose and Gallagher reckons you won’t find a trickier tier in Scottish football.
He added: “League One seems to be getting more competitive every year.
“I would probably argue with anyone that it is the most competitive league in the country in terms of looking at the table.
“There are at least seven or eight teams that have a real chance of promotion - and that’s just not the case in any other league in the country.”
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