Ryan climbs off the bench to net winner
HAMILTON ACCIES ............................... 1 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH ....................... 0 Hamilton boss Stuart Taylor hailed his “relentless” Accies for not giving up and finally finding the goal that saw them return to winning ways.
Taylor watched his side pass up a host of chances against Queen of the South on Tuesday night, with Josh Mullin missing an absolute sitter in the first half.
It could have been another frustrating night for Accies after defeats to Partick and Kilmarnock in their previous outings, but they got their rewards in the 75th minute when Andy Ryan poked home Mullin’s shot to claim all three points.
The victory has moved Accies up to seventh in the table ahead of Saturday’s visit to Morton.
And Taylor said: “I’m really happy with it. We asked the lads to continue what they did on Saturday and be a wee bit more ruthless, so I’m really pleased with how they went about it and keeping the clean sheet.
“We had lots of really good chances, we had lots of shots at goal, we had a lot of play in their final third and I said to them at half-time it’s just about being relentless with it.
“Just keep going and the goal will come and that’s what happened.
“Josh Mullin had a great chance in the first half and with the character he has I knew it wouldn’t affect him.
“He goes forward and ends up helping us win the game.”
Ryan is certainly claiming the goal and while Taylor felt the goal was Mullin’s he isn’t surprised to hear his super sub wants to be credited with it.
He added: “Did Chucky [Ryan] take the goal? I think the ball was already over the line.
“But it was great play from Smiddy [Lewis Smith] in the build-up and a great weighted pass through for Josh. He has an excellent run and he showed excellent composure to put it over the line.
“If Chucky has used his bit of pace to get on the end of it, so be it, that’s strikers for you.”
Accies were forced into a change before kick-off when goalkeeper Ryan Fulton pulled up in the warm-up, being replaced by Joe Hilton.
Ahead of Saturday’s clash away to Morton, Taylor added: “Fulton felt his knee in the warm-up, so we weren’t taking any risks.
“We’ll assess him and see how he is for Saturday.”