Imrie: We can tough it out to beat drop

DOUGIE IMRIE says that the Hamilton players have the mental toughness required to get the two wins they need to secure their safety, and safeguard jobs at the club.

Such is the financial climate in Scottish football, more and more players are realising that they have a responsibility to more than just fans when they are in the midst of a relegation battle.

But Imrie is in no doubt that the Accies players won’t be burdened by what is at stake, but will use it as a motivation to get themselves over the line.

“Every game is intense at this stage but you have to have the mental toughness to see it out,” Imrie said.

“We are in a not bad position, seven points clear of Inverness with other teams about us.

“We just need to concentrate on ourselves and doing our job properly then we should be good enough to get the two wins we need to keep us up.

“We’ve got a lot of young kids at our club so it’s up to the older guys to help them and push them through. Some of them have not been in this position before so for guys like myself who have it’s important to make it clear what this means.

“I know how it affects clubs. People lose their jobs when teams go down so it’s not just about our livelihoods.

“Players are probably safe when clubs go down – it’s the ones behind the scenes who suffer so from that aspect it’s imperative that you give everything you can until the very end.

“That’s why you need that mental toughness to get the drive in you to push yourself forward to win games and not give up.”

Today’s clash with Inverness represents Hamilton’s first opportunity to get a win and all but condemn their hosts to the drop.

Imrie said: “I think the first goal is going to be massive. If we can get it I think it will be tough for Inverness to turn around, as we saw last week against Ross County.

“They did really well in that game for the first 25 minutes then County get a goal and you can see them drain in confidence.”