GRRREAT ESCAPE
Rice insists Accies have ‘eye of the tiger’ as they bid to find a safe passage on their Rocky road
Energy of the players has been fantastic
BULLISH Brian Rice can see the eye of the tiger in his players as he challenged them to pull off Hamilton’s greatest escape.
Accies are Premiership bottom dogs with the home derby against Motherwell the first of their final four games.
Hamilton have earned a reputation as the top flights great survivors after continually defying the odds and the doubters to extend their stay.
They are two points behind Kilmarnock, who they host on the final day, and Rice reckons pulling away to safety would be their best achievement due to the impact of Covid on the club and size of squad.
And a win over Well would be the Hamilton manager’s most important despite a derby record which has seen his side win four of a five-game unbeaten run, including a 4-1 victory at Fir Park last time out.
Rice said: “They have the eye of the tiger if training is to go by. They are competitive, the energy has been fantastic and I can’t ask any more from them.
“If we get through this year and stay up this would be the biggest achievement Hamilton has had. We’ve had Covid, injuries, we were given three points and then taken away plus a lot of other things that are well-documented.
“Other clubs have had a lot too but with the size of squad we have and what we’ve gone through the boys have been immense. We’re still in there fighting and we will be right to the very last minute.”
Accies thumped their rivals last time out but Rice added:
“If we can win it will certainly be the most important but I can’t say it’ll be the biggest and best. We won the last game of the previous decade 4-1 at their place, which was huge, and our last derby performance – when we beat them 3-0 at home – was excellent.
“I would take 1-0 with an own goal but with our luck it would probably be chalked off !
“I would take any win but I also want us to play with the style we’ve been doing recently.
“I want us to play well but first and foremost I want to win. I want the players to have that desire and that passion and that burning feeling inside you that refuses to let you get beaten because I have that.
“But I believe the boys do have that. I can tell that by looking in their eyes. I know what they have inside them and I just need that to come out against Motherwell again.
“I don’t know why we have a good record in this fixture but I do emphasise the importance of it to everyone – especially the fans.
“Whether people are in the stadium or not, supporters will be watching it through TV channels and I stress how important it is to win these games.
“This is the biggest as there’s four games to go and we’re at home. We know the situation and we’ll put everything we’ve got into it because it’s in our hands.”
Accies have more at stake in terms of league position but Rice added: “It’s very dangerous to say we’ve got more to play for.
“Motherwell players have got a living to earn, bonuses to play for, they might be trying to get a new contract and they’re in the Scottish Cup.”
Defender Jamie Hamilton, sent off in his derby debut two years ago, is desperate to help Accies to safety and insists he wouldn’t even settle for a playoff spot right now.
He said: “There’s no chance we’d settle for a play-off place, we’re going to go for it and do what we have done before.
“Our players have been through this and we’ve got that bit of experience and that gives us extra confidence going into the games at the end of the season after the split.
“My first derby was a learning curve for me and I obviously learned from it and it helped me. It has been a bit mixed for me but recently in the last few games it’s been a bit better for us.”