Rice wants Accies players to treat derby as cup final

BRIAN RICE wants his struggling Hamilton side to play with freedom against Motherwell in tonight’s Lanarkshire derby.

With four Premiership matches remaining Accies are bottom of the Premiership, two points behind Kilmarnock and three behind Ross County.

Despite the fraught situation, the Hamilton boss wants nerves to play no part against their near neighbours.

Rice said: “It can get nervous but it can also come down to confidence and how you prepare.

“I give them the freedom to go and play and if they make a mistake so be it. We just get on with it. We win together, we lose together. I don’t think you can go out there and give your best if you are in total fear of the situation.

“We might have a little more benefit where we have quite a lot of young players who don’t really understand the word fear going to play football. The older ones do because they know what is at stake with families and the sort of things we have spoken about many times before.

“The players will have the freedom to go and express themselves. I want them to enjoy it.

“I keep saying; ‘If there was a cup final tomorrow, how would you prepare?’ And that’s how we will treat it. They will go out and give it their best shot.”

Mark O’Hara, meanwhile, admits Motherwell have let their fans down in derby clashes this season and need to make amends.

Accies are aiming for a clean sweep against their rivals this evening, having won the last three meetings between the two clubs.

“It’s massive,” he said. “The two years I have been here we have not done well against them. It’s disappointing for us and it feels as if we are letting the fans down a bit, so hopefully we can rectify that.

“Circumstances have impacted during games, there’s been sendings-off, it’s been fiery, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

“But we have a chance to put it right and if we can finish the last derby of the season with a win that will be good to look back on.”