Martin can see signs of progress at Hamilton

SCOTT MARTIN believes Hamilton must replicate the standard of their second-half showing against Rangers to ensure they climb up the Premiership table. Brian Rice’s team have just three points from their opening five games after goals from Ianis Hagi and James Tavernier in the opening 20 minutes gave the table-toppers a comfortable win. Rangers looked set to record a landslide victory but a change in shape and attitude at the break saw Accies claim far more of a foothold prior to the 75th-minute dismissal of Scott McMann for a second booking. ‘In the first half, we maybe gave them a bit too much respect,’ reflected midfielder Martin. ‘Their full-backs were quite high and it almost forced us into a back six. ‘But if we play the way we did in the second half, I think we’ll be fine. ‘At half-time, the manager reminded us that everyone had a job and everyone had a man. We should have done that from the start, in terms of us out on the pitch. ‘It’s been a tough start to the season but I feel we should be in a better position. We have a great bunch of lads in the changing room and the standard of training is really good. ‘It’s just maybe not clicked on the pitch yet but I’m confident it will eventually. We have a run of games after the international break that we can hopefully take points from. ‘You look back to games like the one against St Mirren when we started to play a bit of football but just couldn’t get the end product. We were just a few per cent off it. ‘After that second-half performance against Rangers, I don’t see why we can’t do that every week and against every team. That should be a given.’ Asked if he had feared a pummelling after such a dismal start, Martin added: ‘It’s happened before. We have been on the wrong end of it a couple of times. ‘We could have folded and given up, but I think it shows the character that we didn’t. We tried to press and work to the last minute. ‘If Shaun Want’s header goes in (after 72 minutes), who knows what might have happened.’