Progress as Jamie gets 90 minutes under his belt
John Rankin is delighted with Jamie Hamilton’s progress after the defender racked up his first 90 minutes in almost two years on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old has been ravaged by injury and his long road to recovery is almost over after he got through the entirety of Accies’spfl Reserve Cup semi-final defeat to Dunfermline unscathed.
Accies lost 3-1 to miss out on a place in the final but a major positive was seeing
Hamilton get precious game time under his belt.
He has been in the matchday squads for the senior side in recent weeks and Rankin believes he is getting ever closer to a first top team outing since April 16, 2022.
He said:“he is nearly there now. He has been involved in a couple of squads but he still needs to get that sharpness back – which is always going to be the case when you’ve been out for the length of time he has.
“But the progress he has made is to be admired.
“He has played 45 minutes in an in-house game, which enabled him to get 60 minutes in the last reserve game and now he has 90 minutes, so we are building him up nicely.
“I felt the bus journey up to Cove on Saturday wouldn’t have been good for Jamie, a seven-hour round trip.
“He stayed home and we got 90 minutes out of him in the Reserve Cup game with Dunfermline.
“The aim was always to get him a full game and he’s made a lot of progress.
“Next month will be two years since his injury so to get his first 90 minutes under his belt is a big step forward.”
Rankin also admits his player is still getting used to the life of a defender again.
He added:“at times, he bruises easily but he’s not been kicked for two years so that is always going to happen.
“It is taking him a wee bit longer to get over those wee knocks but Jamie being back in is like having a new signing.
“Hopefully he can gain fitness and momentum for the rest of the season.”