Thumbs down
Defender Sam Stubbs can’t wait to get stuck in against Hibs in a fortnight, and erase the memory of a 5-0 drubbing against Rangers at Ibrox.
Hamilton succumbed to the heavy defeat as a Jermaine Defoe hat-trick was added to by a Connor Goldson header and a superb free-kick by Borna Barisic, putting Rangers top of the Premiership table by two points over Celtic, going into the international break this weekend.
That’s about as much as Stubbs wants to remember about their nightmare on Edmiston Drive, though he concedes Accies will watch the video nasty – because if nothing else, they can learn from Steven Gerrard’s side.
Hamilton entertain a struggling Hibs side at New Douglas Park on October 19, a side that was managed by his dad Alan, and Stubbs is determined to put a few things right.
“It was a powerful performance from Rangers,” he said. “That’s the level that myself and a lot of the young lads in our team want to aspire to. Rangers played very well.
“I think it’s naive of us not to watch the clips and see how we did. We will do that, but sometimes you might just have to hold your hands up and say ‘we got Rangers on a good day for them, bad day for us’.
“In retrospect we probably could have done with Celtic winning [they lost 2-0 at Livingston earlier on Sunday], because that gave Rangers even more incentive and I think that showed with the way they started the game, and they scored five.
“Our season isn’t defined by games like this. It’s a great occasion for the club, the players and for myself, and we will learn from it.
“We will look at them and see what we can take from the game, because I think we can, but our season is more about the likes of Hibs after the international break.”
Stubbs added: “There’s probably no better game to bounce back with than at home, against a team that’s around us in the league.
“Looking at the league table, and seeing that you are above other people and away from that danger zone is a boost, but I don’t think we go into the game thinking that if we beat them we stay above them – I think we go into it thinking that we can beat them, and that it’s points.
“The gaffer says a lot that three points against Rangers and Celtic is the same as against St Mirren or St Johnstone, so I think that’s very true.
“Personally, I can’t wait for the next game, to get that out the way, put in a good performance, and hopefully take three points.”
Rangers started their demolition job in six minutes, when Greg Stewart played Jermaine Defoe through and he clipped a shot over Owain Fonwilliams and in 34 minutes James Tavernier crossed for unmarked Goldson to head into the net.
Barisic curled a free kick into the net in 61 minutes, and two minutes later Defoe drilled a shot into the left corner, completing his hat-trick seven minutes later.