Rice’s high point will be keeping Accies up

BRIAN RICE insists it would be his biggest achievement in football if he could repay the faith of Hamilton’s board by keeping the club in the Premiership this season. Derek McInnes’ departure at Aberdeen means the Accies manager — appointed in January 2019 — is now the second longest-serving boss in the top flight behind Steven Gerrard. He is also one of only four to survive from last season. Rice expressed gratitude for the stability provided by Hamilton, who stood by him last term when he received a ten-game ban for breaching gambling rules. While the current campaign has been dogged by injuries, victory at Livingston today would lift Accies four points clear of bottom club Kilmarnock. ‘I couldn’t ask for any more support,’ said Rice. ‘This club has been fantastic to me. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude. They don’t owe me anything. ‘There’s nothing I would like more than to keep our place in the Premiership. This has been a season like no other — not just the pandemic but the injuries we have had. ‘The boys have battled through it and we are not sitting bottom of the league at this time, so it’s fantastic credit to them. ‘If we stayed up this year, it will be the biggest, hardest thing I have ever done in football. I just hope I can repay the club by keeping them in the division.’ While Rice hopes captain Brian Easton can recover to face Livingston, Nathan Thomas and Marios Ogkmpoe will be sidelined for several weeks. Andy Winter joins Shaun Want and David Templeton in being out for the season, while Rice is pessimistic about the chances of Lewis Smith featuring again.