WE CAN BUILD ON KILLIE JOY Canning: Last-gasp cup win will drive us on in league
Martin Canning has told his Hamilton side to build on their Scottish Cup win at Kilmarnock as they enter a vital period of games.
Rakish Bingham’s late penalty was enough to see Accies through a tense fourth round tie and Canning hopes it provides a boost ahead of Saturday’s trip to St Johnstone and back-to-back home games against Inverness on Tuesday and Kilmarnock next weekend.
Hamilton will follow that up with a visit to Championship club Dunfermline for a Scottish Cup fifth round tie.
Canning said: “It’s going to be a big month, we have a lot of big games coming up and it’s games we know we need to win – there’s no beating around the bush.
“The performances really are irrelevant up to a point, we have to make sure we win the games.
“It was pleasing to get that win on Saturday. It was nice to be resolute and not concede and it’s nice to be on the right end of a late goal in a game – we’ve been on the wrong end of that a couple of times – and I thought, over the piece, we deserved to win the game.
“I thought we were the better team, we created enough opportunities and promising ones at that.
“Everything is there, the boys work ever so hard, the quality is definitely there and if we can add that little bit of belief we will get results.
“It’s good to get into the next round of the cup, it’s always nice to win games, and especially when we haven’t won as many as we should have done.
“Hopefully this is the start of a cup run. Every year we set out to do that and for whatever reason it hasn’t happened – during my time at the club as a player as well we haven’t managed to put together much of a cup run.
“Our big focus, though, is on trying to maintain this kind of form and result into the league, because that’s where we’re judged, and that’s where our bread and butter is.”
Hamilton go into Saturday’s trip to Perth minus suspended trio Michael Devlin, Massimo Donati and Georgios Sarris. Sarris recently underwent knee surgery and will be out for up to six weeks anyway.
Canning said: “We’re going to be down to the bare bones in terms of the defence but that means it’s an opportunity for some boys to come in and play.
“Jordan Mcgregor, Jack Breslin and Shaun Want will come into it, and Craig Watson is back playing. He has been for the last couple of months now, and is doing well.
“We have options, they will be young boys who maybe lack a little bit of experience but will thrive on the opportunity. That’s just part of where we are as a club and what we like to do, so we’ll have a look at it.”