PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF FINAL

Accies hitman Imrie desperate to avoid a fourth relegation

DOUGIE IMRIE has been relegated three times in his career and reckons that’s more than enough. That’s why the Hamilton veteran played like a man possessed against Dundee on Saturday to help ensure Accies didn’t finish bottom of the Premiership. And why he will be equally hell-bent on trying to keep Dundee United in the Championship when the play-off final first leg kicks off on Thursday night. Imrie and his team travel to Tannadice on a massive high after finally finding their form at the weekend, racking up their biggest win of the season to consign Inverness to the drop. But a hat-trick of relegations – with Inverness in 2009, Hamilton in 2011 and Morton in 2014 – and the desire to avoid a fourth, are what will drive the attacker on over the next 180 minutes. Imrie said: “We don’t want that, it’s horrible. It’s not just the players - there are repercussions for everyone. “But with winning that game we’ve given ourselves a great opportunity. We can go into the play-off full of confidence after scoring four fantastic goals. “For the vast majority of the game we were magnificent. We knew what we had to do and we did it. We go into

DAVID McCARTHY

the play-offs now so I suppose you could say the job is only half done. We know it will be tough over two legs.

I watched United and Falkirk on Friday. Falkirk will be gutted with the way they lost the two goals. I thought up until then they were slightly the better team. But it shows the desire and commitment Dundee United have.

“They kept going right to the end. You can see they have the desire to get up into the Premiership, so there will be two tough games.

‘Both teams played good football, so we know it will be tough. But we are definitely looking forward to it on the back of this performance and result.”

Accies had lost their previous four matches to leave themselves in a precarious position – and finding their fed-up fans turning on them.

“All was sweetness and light at the weekend but Imrie hasn’t forgotten it and wants a united front over the next two games.

He said: “I think some of the stick the manager and some of the players have been getting has been uncalled for.

“We knew the last four games of the split hadn’t been good enough, although we were good against Ross County last week and should have won that game.

“Fans are entitled to their opinion but we are the smallest club in the league and probably have the smallest budget in the league as well.

“For the last four years we have been punching above our weight. They are allowed their opinion but we know ourselves this season hasn’t been good enough overall.

“We have put ourselves into good positions a lot of the time only to lose silly goals and throw points away.

“As a group we’re disappointed because we know we should have been okay this season. But it’s so important that we all really stick together now over the next week or so. “A lot of our boys have been there in these type of games. It’s obviously in our favour that most of them have been through it and they know what to expect.

‘Tannadice is a great stadium and it always produces a great atmosphere. I’ve played there various times so we are looking forward to Thursday and then getting them back to our place next Sunday.”

Imrie is convinced his team will pose United problems, even if he stops short of making bold predictions.

He said: “On Saturday we showed what we are all about, the intensity, the way we can pass the ball.

“We’ve not always been up to that standard this season. We’re disappointed we have not been able to have a consistent run.

“But if we play the way we know we can play we will pose all the questions to Dundee United.

“We will give it everything and if we play like we did on Saturday I’m sure we will go in full of confidence and get the right result.”

DOUGIE IMRIE