Airdrie's short summer break has silver lining, says Calum Gallagher

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Calum Gallagher reckons Airdrie’s short summer break can help them hit the ground running next month when they return to match action in the NL Cup and Viaplay League Cup.The Diamonds secured promotion to the Championship on May 20 with a dramatic penalty shootout win over Hamilton Accies in the play-off final, and less than a month later they will be back in pre-season training.Striker Gallagher and his team-mates will report back to New Broomfield this Saturday to kick off their preparations for next season.And before the league campaign gets underway in August, the club will look to defend their title in the NL Cup pre-season tournament on July 1/2, before embarking on their first competitive action in the Viaplay League Cup on July 15.The NL Cup has pitted Airdrie against North Lanarkshire rivals Motherwell on July 1, while the Viaplay Cup has the Monklands side in Group E against Bonnyrigg Rose, Inverness Caley Thistle, Dumbarton and Premiership side Dundee, who the Diamonds took to extra-time in last season’s Scottish Cup third round.And ‘Gal’, who won the PFA League One Player of the Year last season, believes the short turnaround between seasons will have some benefits.He said: “We are back on Saturday so it is obviously a very quick turnaround.“We’ve only finished up a few weeks ago but if there is any silver lining to it, we can’t have lost much fitness in that time so that will really help.“We’ve all been speaking on the club group chat over the summer and everyone is excited for the new season, ready to start again and build on what was a really successful year last season.“It is exciting to have a Lanarkshire derby [with Motherwell] so early in the season to look forward to.