I’ve been down this road before ..I’ll get drop on Saints
Accies ace Martin will use his survival instincts to stay up
AARON MARTIN is a battle-hardened survivor of final-day relegation showdowns so the Accies defender wants to avoid that scenario this season.
The Englishman believes Hamilton can pick up enough points in the coming weeks to avoid a nervejangling climax, starting today at home to St Mirren.
Martin said: “I’ve been in this situation twice before, at Birmingham and at Coventry a few years back.
“Both times we had to win the last game of the season to avoid relegation and we managed to do so.
“You have to stay mentally focused and prepare yourself properly, try thinking about the outcome rather than the game at hand.”
Martin is aware that most of his Accies team-mates are only too familiar with endof-season battles against the drop, and in recent years they’ve won them all.
So that experience should count for a lot. He added: “Most of the boys here have already been through this kind of thing before so we know what to expect.
“There are still six games to go, so if we can pick up a decent amount of points in the next two or three games.
“That would put us in a nice position where hopefully it wouldn’t come down to the last game.
“I’ve never experienced a split before but I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.
“Knowing that you’re playing against all the other teams fighting for their survival makes it all the more exciting.
“I didn’t know about the split before I came here. I was looking at the league and thinking it finishes quite early. Then Brian Easton and some of the other boys told me about the split. It’s a learning curve.
“The fact that it’s all in our own hands makes it a lot more manageable.
“If we can keep picking up points and get ourselves out of the position we’re in and for it not to have to come down to the last game, that’s the goal. We just need to be a bit more clinical.”
Hamilton manager Brian Rice praised striker David Moyo for accepting the club’s decision not to let him travel to play for Zimbabwe in their upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Botswana and Zambia.
It would have meant Moyo quarantining for 11 days on his return, thus making him unavailable for some crucial games.
Rice said: “It was just common sense. Travelling all over the world at this time, having to quarantine and the injury situation we have here, it all added up to the decision we made.
“I was asked my opinion and that got passed on. I think it’s the right decision and David was great about it – he understands the situation here.
“The decision has been made and we just get on with it now.
“It’s what we all dream about as players, representing your country, but it shows you the sort of lad that David Moyo is.
“People only see the football player but there is a good human being with a big heart.
“It speaks volumes for the lad that he was so understanding.”
The fact it’s all in our own hands makes it a lot more manageable AARON MARTIN