MacKinnon: Softy Imrie and me bear no Well grudges
HAMILTON midfielder Darian MacKinnon has promised that Motherwell won’t be able to get a rise out of him or teammate Dougie Imrie, who he has called “a big softy”, in tomorrow’s Lanarkshire derby.
Imrie came in for some rough treatment both on and off the pitch the last time he visited Fir Park just before New Year, but he had the last laugh as he converted a penalty in a 3-1 win for Accies.
Motherwell defender Peter Hartley received a red card after the match for barging Imrie to the ground, an incident that in the past would have caused MacKinnon to see red and wade into the thick of the action.
Ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s return visit for their Scottish Cup fourth round tie though, MacKinnon insists that it will be those who can keep the coolest heads who will book their place in the hat for the next round.
“It will be a good game against them, especially after the last time, so we’ll see how it goes,” said MacKinnon.
“It won’t be hard to let go of what happened last time from our part. I don’t think we did much wrong the last time. It happens in games, not just in derbies, so we let it pass.
“I don’t actually know what’s sparked the whole thing off [after the last game], but they would have been hurting, especially at their own place.
“I don’t really know what’s went through the guy’s head, but it happens. We’ve all lost the plot from time to time, and there’s no grudges from us anyway.
“Dougie was laughing after it, so he’s not bothered either. We are just going there to play football.
“Dougie comes across as a hard character, but he’s a big softy really. He plays up to it, he loves all that and get- ting abuse off the crowd, it makes him play better.
“He’s a lovely guy Dougie, and he very rarely reacts to things. He hit the ground when he got barged, and that’s no surprise because he always dives!”
MacKinnon had little choice but to clean up his own act, after a series of silly bookings and one particularly needless red card against Dundee left his Accies career in peril.
“The manager made it pretty clear, and once he tells you something, you need to do it or you won’t be here, it’s as simple as that,” he said.
“I’ll still have the odd mad moment which you have come to expect, but I don’t think I’m a dirty player. I’ve got a reputation as one, but I don’t go out unfairly to hurt people or anything.
“I had a pretty stupid sending off against Dundee here when I thought I went for the ball, but after seeing it on the replay, I clearly never! It’s those sort of stupid ones that the club say they can’t accept.”
It is rare that you will hear anyone from either side of the Lanarkshire divide admit to envy towards the other, but MacKinnon is honest enough to concede that he was jealous of the Motherwell players as he watched this season’s League Cup final.
He sees no reason why it can’t be Accies, with a bit of luck on their side, who get their day out at Hampden this time.
“I think the quarter-finals against Falkirk is the best I’ve done here, so I’d like to get a bit further this year,” he said.
“When you look at Motherwell getting to the League Cup final, there’s a bit of jealousy there of course.
“They had a good day out, although the result didn’t go their way. You want to go there and play in the biggest games, and it might be our turn this year, you never know.”