Dales happy with debut

Andy Dales admitted it was a relief to bag a debut goal for Hamilton, having drawn a blank at Dundee.

Winger Dales, on loan from Scunthorpe, had a previous spell at Dens Park last season, without hitting the mark.

The 25-year-old opened the scoring in a 5-0 Scottish Cup fourth round win over Edinburgh City, and was pleased with his lot.

“To score a goal on your debut and put in a good performance like that, I’m happy with it,”he said.

“I had a header off the bar and a few strikes, so to get the goal was brilliant.

“It was important to get the goal in my first game because at Dundee I didn’t score. I had lots of chances at Dundee but for whatever reason I just couldn’t find the back of the net, so to come here and score on my debut was a great feeling.

“The longer it goes without getting a goal the more of a problem it can become, especially with strikers. With me being a winger, I want to score goals and I want to make assists, so to get that off the mark is great, and hopefully there is more to come.”

Dales added:“the tempo from the start of the game was very good, the high press, which the gaffer wants, so I was really happy.

“My fitness is only going to get better with the training I do and the games that come up.

“Maybe it’s not where I’ve had it before, but that’s match fitness, that isn’t me not working hard in training or anything like that, because I’m a fit lad, but I think anyone will say that match-fitness is the biggest thing for you.”