Veteran Kilgallon ready for new kind of fight in relegation battle
MATT Kilgallon made the 400th start of his career in Hamilton’s defeat to Motherwell last weekend, but the veteran defender still has the appetite for the basement battle that awaits following the winter break.
The former Leeds United, Sunderland and Sheffield United centre-back will turn 35 next week, but he says that he hasn’t come to Scotland for one final payday.
Instead, he says he is ready to throw everything into keeping Martin Canning’s men in the Premiership.
“To get 400 starts is something to be proud of,” he said. “You don’t know how many you’ll get so to still be kicking on at 34 – nearly 35 – is something to be proud of, too.
“After a loss like Motherwell on Saturday, you wonder how many more games you’ve got in you. But after a win, you feel as though you could play for another 200.
“Some people might think coming up here is easy and they’re coming up for a payday.
“You need to have the right character for starters if you’re coming up here from England. Hamilton isn’t the bestknown club down there. But it’s really well run and has a good feel about it. They give people opportunities.
“They might have to spend a bit more money for the player who can score you that goal out of nothing that we need at the moment. Nothing is falling for us right now.”
It now looks to be a threeway shootout between Accies, Dundee and St Mirren to avoid relegation trouble in the bottom two, and Kilgallon admits that Accies simply haven’t been good enough in the first half of the season.
The battle to avoid the drop is a new experience for Kilgallon, who has spent the majority of his career fighting to win promotion from the English lower leagues, but he is certain that he can help his younger team-mates handle the pressure.
“I’ve mainly tried to get out leagues at the start, not the bottom, so this is all new to me,” he said.
“It’s a different pressure. I’ve had the pressure of not being able to afford to lose games at the top – now it’s at the bottom.
“It’s still pressure and it’s the worry of not being able to make a mistake in case a goal goes in. It’s a weird one and, at the moment, we’re not doing too well. We have been very lucky that other teams haven’t won, or we’d be even