Hughes: We didn’t give up

HUGE IMPACT Hughes, left, gets stuck in against winger Conway

RONAN HUGHES insists Hamilton’s refusal to fold after falling three goals behind shows the fighting spirit his club is built on.

A show of defiance saw Brian Rice’s side claw themselves back to being both 3-2 and 4-3 behind before being edged out by Craig Conway’s late fifth for the Perth men.

But Hughes, 21, admits they’ll take the positives from a game where they gave themselves too much to do by conceding in the first minute.

He said: “It’s a weird one losing five goals at home – we just need to look at the positives. We never gave up, we fought back. We got goals but the mistakes at the back cost us.

“Hamilton, over the years, we never give up, we keep going till the end.

“Even when St Johnstone scored the fourth and fifth, we tried to get the ball forward and tried to get goals.

“We just need to move on to the next game and try not to make mistakes.

“You want to win every game possible and we don’t go in fearing anyone.”

The bittersweet takeaway for the midfielder was scoring his first goals for a club he joined aged 10 after climbing off the bench 20 minutes in to replace an injured David Templeton.

Hughes added: “I had a bad injury and was out about nine weeks. I’ve just been trying to get back fit. I’m just happy to get on and help the team.”