Woods keen to build on solid foundations

HAMILTON hero Gary Woods is hoping that a resolute display in defeat to Rangers at Ibrox can give Accies plenty to build on as they look to fend off the threat of relegation.

The goalkeeper admitted he was fearing the worst after Daniel Candeias had breached his goal after just three minutes, but he pulled off a string of stunning saves to keep his side in the game right to the end.

And while he was still disappointed to come away from the match empty-handed, Woods believes there were a lot of positives to build on.

“It’s never a good start to come here and concede so early, but fair play to the boys, they dug in in the first half, and we looked threatening at times,” he said. “We can take a lot from it. We’ve been on the end of a few heavy defeats this year, and that’s usually what has happened, we’ve conceded one and then all of a sudden it’s three or four.

“Today, we showed a bit more resilience and that’s something to build on for the festive period.”

One save that Woods made from Lafferty in the second-half in particular was world-class, clawing out his net-bound header from under the crossbar.

“Ultimately, the result is still the same,” he said. “We had a couple of late chances but first half we were poor and showed too much respect.

“In the second half, we started slightly better and passed the ball around, but there’s a slightly sour note.

“[But] the boys defended brilliantly from the front to the back four. With that many crosses and corners you might expect a few more goals from them, but credit to our boys for our work today and we need to move on now.”