No fear of champions at home

Darian Mackinnon says Celtic can be vulnerable, and hopes Hamilton have a real go at them in their Christmas Eve showdown.

The midfielder, who last week signed a contract extension until 2019, says Accies don’t fear anybody at home, and have proved they can mix it with the big boys.

He said:“i’ve been watching the last couple of Celtic games and it’s safe to say they’re not firing on all cylinders just now.

“I’d never say there’s a good time to get them, but hopefully we can have a go and try to nick something.

“If you can get a point, maybe three. We don’t fear anybody at home, so hopefully the gaffer sets us up to have a go and we’ll see where that takes us.

“It has been a tough run of games for us but you always want to play against the best. We did okay at Celtic Park defensively and had a wee go in the last 10 minutes.

“At the Rangers game there we let ourselves down a wee bit until the last 20 minutes. We’ve looked at why that was, and it’s that we weren’t good enough on the ball.

“When we had a go in the last 20 minutes, when we were good on the ball, we caused them problems and it’s about taking that into the Celtic game.”

Mackinnon was delighted to commit his future to Hamilton, and said it was a case of keeping quiet at first.

“We had spoken about it up at the Ross County game,”he said.“the vice-chairman Ronnie Macdonald came to see me and told me what they wanted to do – I just had to keep it quiet until we got it signed.

“I’ll be here hopefully until the end of my deal, which will be seven-anda-half years, which you’d never have thought when I first came here.

“It has worked out well. At the start it didn’t go too well, then I settled in and became a mainstay in the team – long may that continue.”