From the Sunday Mail: AIRDRIE boss Gary Bollan insists keeper Grant Adam has hauled his side out of the relegation zone with a string of stunning performances.
Adam kept bottom team Arbroath out as the Diamonds battled on for much of the second half a man down following the dismissal of Caolan McAleer.
That helped protect James Lister’s first-half header and while Ricky Little’s late red card made it 10 v 10, Airdrie had already done enough to hold out.
Bollan said: “Grant is a quality keeper and we’re lucky to have him. He has been unlucky in his career and should be playing at a higher level.
“Since he has come in we’ve only had one defeat in nine games and that was at Ibrox. He’s been outstanding and wasn’t going to let anything cross that line today.
“But I can’t fault any of my players. We are all together fighting to stay up and it shows. It’s another important win but we are far from safe yet.
“We are in a better position to stay up and it’s in our own hands.”
Lister’s bullet header put Airdrie ahead in the first half and they looked set for a comfortable win as Arbroath struggled.
But the Red Lichties stepped up a gear in the second half and with the wind at their back they began to threaten. Their cause was aided by McAleer who was sent off for a lunge on Paul Sheerin in 63 minutes.
The hosts twice struck the woodwork – through Paul McManus and Kevin Nicoll – and had a Sheerin corner cleared off the line.
Bobby Linn also had a wind-assisted 40-yard strike blocked by Adam before Airdrie sub Grant Evans cleared a last-gasp goalmouth scramble off the line.
Adam held firm and Arbroath player-boss Sheerin said: “It’s so frustrating. We threw everything at Airdrie but just couldn’t score, even against 10 men.”