Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe has called on his players to build on their Scottish Cup confidence boost as they host Dunfermline Athletic in a must win Championship clash on Saturday.

The Diamonds dazzled in Dumbarton as they defeated the Sons 5-1 to progress to the fifth round, where they will now travel to Dundee.

But it’s back to league action this weekend as they welcome Dunfermline to New Broomfield with the hosts knowing a win is needed to restore any hope of avoiding relegation.

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Victory would end a 19-game winless run in the league for rock-bottom Diamonds and close the gap on the Pars – now under new management after Michael Tidser took the reins – to 10 points.

McCabe, whose side lost 1-0 to the Pars in November and drew 1-1 in October, said: “It’s important that we utilise all the individual performances and take the morale boost into the games ahead of us.

“Confidence is high just now as opposed to when you lose a game of football. It’s important that we lean on that and get a boost from it.”

Airdrie were dealt a double injury blow against Dumbarton with Mason Hancock and Gavin Gallagher forced off inside the opening 30 minutes.

And McCabe said: “Mason looked like a hamstring, we’ll get that assessed and Gavin rolled his ankle and left the game in a boot.

“I always try to see the positive and Flynn (Duffy) came on for Mason and put in a good performance.

“He wasn’t in the squad for the last game and maybe felt he had something to prove and he showed his quality.

“When someone steps out, it’s an opportunity for someone else. That’s football.”

Attacker Chris Mochrie insisted it’s up to the players to ensure that the cup victory turns out to be the spark needed to kick-start their campaign.

The 21-year-old was part of the Dunfermline side that won League One two seasons ago but he’s out to down his former side on Saturday.

He said: “It’s been a difficult season for us but the manager’s tried to keep the same message to the players.

“When you get so many defeats on the bounce, it is difficult but something like this could be just what we needed to kick start the season.

“We’ve been in a lot of games and it’s just going the other way. I feel that we’ve been playing better the past few weeks so we need to keep that going.”