ACCIES NEED BREAK BOOST
Hamilton boss Brian Rice says the international break has come at a good time for his side so they can recharge their batteries.
Their last five games have seen Accies draw 2-2 at Hearts, lose 1-0 at home to Celtic, controversially go down to 10 men at St Mirren but draw 0-0 and grab a good 2-1 win at home to Livingston before Sunday’s 5-0 demolition against Rangers at Ibrox.
The next five see Hamilton host Hibs and Aberdeen either side of a trip to St Johnstone in Perth before they entertain Ross County and travel to Kilmarnock.
Rice sees that as a period from which he wants to grab as many points as possible and says having a weekend off will give his players a chance to recover from a punishing schedule and some to come back from injury.
“Normally I would say the international break has come at a bad time – I like to play Saturday to Saturday – but on this occasion we’ve had a really tough set of fixtures,” said Rice.
“We’ve been away at Tynecastle, been at Paisley and at Ibrox and we had Celtic at home, so it has been really tough.
“I’m getting some players back from injury, and I think the break is coming at a good time for us.
“I don’t think there is a great deal between third place and 12th in this league and I think on the day anybody can beat anybody.
“We have a good record at home. We’ve lost to Celtic and Motherwell this season, I appreciate that, but in general we have a good home record and now we go into a set of fixtures where we will expect to take points.”
While Aaron Mcgowan missed the trip to Ibrox through injury, Ciaran Mckenna came back and midfielder Scott Martin is one of the long-term crocks who are nearing a return.
Rice said: “Aaron pulled out injured on Thursday so I had to put Ciaran in. He hasn’t had much game-time so fair play to the lad. He got through the game.
“The injury list is starting to ease a bit. I don’t think Aaron will be out too long, hopefully he’s back for the Hibs game, and the rest of them are getting there.”
Rice was not happy to see Rangers thump five past his side without reply but said it is difficult to compete with some of the top sides.
“We were playing against an exceptional attacking team,” he said, “and I always knew it was going to be a really difficult day.
“We tried to set up to combat that but their quality shone through. I’m not going to stand here and say 5-0 is OK because it isn’t but I can’t dwell on that.
“I watched one of the teams in England that got to a Champions League final last season lose seven goals,. It’s very difficult for us when we go to places like Ibrox and we have to try and make it harder next time.”