THE RISING SON

Gogic aiming to make his mark after dad starred against Rangers

WHEN Alex Gogic made his full Hamilton Accies debut against Rangers last month, Ibrox fans with good memories may have recognised the surname.

In 1995, his father, Sinisa, was one of the Anorthosis Famagusta players who made Rangers sweat en route to becoming the first British club to qualify twice for the Champions League group stage.

Ilian Kiriakov took the plaudits — and earned a future move to Aberdeen — after a fraught twolegged tie, won 1-0 on aggregate by Walter Smith’s side courtesy of Gordon Durie’s first-leg goal in Glasgow.

However, in the eyes of Rangers star player Paul Gascoigne, Gogic had been the standout performer that night.

Few would have realised that the former Yugoslav international was back at Ibrox for last month’s 4-0 win over Hamilton. Not even his own son knew about it initially, since the trip was a surprise organised by the Accies defender’s girlfriend, Chloe.

After following in his dad’s footsteps by stepping onto the Govan pitch, Gogic would now like to become known as a player in his own right by helping Hamilton beat the drop.

‘My dad came over and surprised me at Ibrox recently,’ revealed Gogic. ‘I was doing the warm-up and I looked up into the stand — and there he was.

‘He had flown to London and then up to Glasgow and met my girlfriend Chloe, who is living here with me. She was in on the surprise. He stayed a week in Scotland and he enjoyed it.

‘He played at Ibrox with Anorthosis 22 years ago, so it was a nice moment for both of us. He played against Paul Gascoigne, and he told me that Gazza had said my dad was one of the hardest players he ever played against.

‘My dad also played in the home leg against Rangers and I’m told it was a great game. But I was a baby then, so obviously I can’t remember it. He likes to show me videos, though.

‘Playing at Ibrox was a nice thing for both of us to share. I can now say I played in the same stadium as my dad.

‘It was an inspiration to have such a well-known footballer as a dad and I loved it but it is a bit hard, too, because everyone compares me to him.

‘When I moved to join Swansea, nobody really knew about my dad, and even though they slowly found out, it was a lot easier to make my own name.

‘He likes to wind me up and tell me I’m not as good as him. But I tell him he wouldn’t be able to outrun me now!’

After coming through the youth ranks at Olympiacos in Greece, Gogic moved to Swansea for four years before signing for Hamilton in February. A month later, he penned a new deal until May 2018.

With Accies four points off the bottom and just above the relegation play-off zone on goal difference, a victory against Dundee at Dens Park today would be priceless for Martin Canning’s men. The Dark Blues are in freefall at the moment.

Last week’s 1-0 defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle was their sixth loss in a row, and Accies can really turn up the heat on them today with the victory which would see them leapfrog their hosts.

Gogic, for his part, is hoping to use his experience at Swansea when he rubbed shoulders with English Premier League stars in a bid to help Accies in their survival battle.

‘I trained with the Swansea first team and (captain) Ashley Williams was a big inspiration,’ he added. ‘I loved watching him and seeing how focused he was. He was a leader and very strong.

‘Playing against Wilfried Bony and trying to mark him was interesting, too. He was just huge but it was a great experience. ‘Garry Monk was there as manager and I played under Michael Laudrup as well, but mostly under Garry. ‘He is a great guy and now he is doing well with Leeds and having success there. ‘But I’m loving it at Hamilton. Of course, it would be nice if we were fighting for a place in the Europa League or the Champions League. ‘It was hard when we had two 4-0 defeats in my first two games against Rangers and Hearts. But I am relishing the battles that we now face.

‘I guess Dundee are under more pressure than us but every team is fighting for three points. Everyone is under pressure. Nobody wants to go down.’

Swansea are only two points from safety in England’s top flight and Gogic is praying this season serves up a double survival story.

‘I hope we both stay up,’ he said. ‘Swansea are in a hard league, though, so I don’t know if they can. But, hopefully, they will.

‘And if we focus and do our jobs at Hamilton, we should win enough games to be okay.

‘At this stage of the season, nobody is looking for draws. We all want to win every game now.

‘If you look at how tight the league table is, one win takes you right up again. Hopefully we can do just that at Dundee.’