WE PAID FOR SLOW START
Canning savages first-half show against Dundee
Frustrated Hamilton boss Martin Canning says his side created more than enough chances to beat Dundee, but their first-half performance was unacceptable.
Canning was satisfied with the second-half effort put in against the Taysiders, who ran out 2-0 winners, but says the lethargy shown in the first 45 can’t be repeated.
With a run of games that now see Accies travel to Hibs, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen, and with a home match against Rangers on September 21, Canning is looking for a reaction.
He said: “I would say to the boys to keep the heads up, because the secondhalf performance was positive. On another day we would probably score two or three goals, but it wasn’t to be.
“First-half performance? We can’t afford to let that creep in, we have to make sure we do better than that. Every game is tough for one reason or another, whether it’s one of the ‘big five’ clubs, if you like, or whether it’s a team round about you that is fighting for points, every game is a different challenge.”
Canning added: “It wasn’t good enough in the first half. Dundee didn’t create much, we sat in our shape, but we didn’t pass the ball anywhere near well enough to allow us to get up the pitch and be a threat at the top end.
“That was disappointing after last Saturday’s 3-0 win over St Mirren, because if you approach it mentally it should be a good first half and you should start to enjoy it, but we didn’t do that until the second half.
“The win last week should have given us an opportunity to play with a freedom in the first half and we didn’t do that.
“In the second half we created more than enough to get something from the game, and never mind a point, probably all three, if we had managed to get a goal.
“By all accounts, Dundee haven’t had many breaks of late. On Saturday I think they got their break.
“It wasn’t through lack of trying to get the goal, and the boys who came in did well.
“Dropping Dougie Imrie back in, he started dictating the game.
“James Keatings had an impact on the game, as did Rakish Bingham, and that’s what you’re looking for in your squad, you’re looking for boys to come off the bench with something to prove and to force the issue.
“We were hit with a late sucker-punch, but the game was lost in the first half.
“We lost a sloppy set-piece goal, gave ourselves a mountain to climb, and we did everything we could but it wasn’t to be.”
Hamilton were missing attacker Mickel Miller and midfield general Darian Mackinnon against Dundee and that might be the case at Easter Road too.
But Canning said: “We have enough in the squad that it shouldn’t affect the group, but hopefully they can recover.”