CANNING BURSTING WITH PRIDE OVER ACCIES GRADUATES

MARTIN CANNING watched with pride as two of Hamilton’s former academy graduates, Lewis Ferguson and Mikey Devlin, shone on the big stage for Aberdeen at the weekend. But he is equally wary of the threat they will pose to their old team when Accies visit Pittodrie to take on a rejuvenated Dons tomorrow night. Ferguson (top) and Devlin (bottom) were key performers in Sunday’s Betfred Cup semi-final win over Rangers at Hampden, the former scoring the 79th-minute goal which secured Derek McInnes’s side a date with Celtic in the final, while the latter’s defensive skills helped them keep a third clean sheet in the competition. ‘I get enjoyment out of seeing them doing well,’ said Accies boss Canning. ‘They are two guys who’ve come through our academy and have gone on to do well for themselves. ‘For them, it was a good day and I’m pretty sure they’ll take that momentum into Wednesday. We need to make sure we’re ready for it. ‘It highlights that we’re doing a good job bringing these players through, but we’re also losing good players. ‘We’ve got to continuously try and bring players in again and try to get the next crop through so we can get back to competing in the top league. ‘If players come through we give them the opportunity to get into the first team. That’s our philosophy.’ Beaten 4-1 by Rangers last week, Hamilton regained some confidence after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Kilmarnock. But Pittodrie hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for a team who have failed to pick up a single point in the Granite City since December 2009. The sides are only separated by five points in the league table but Canning fears a Dons revival is under way after their somewhat shaky start to the season. ‘If they’d lost you’d be saying they’ll be looking to bounce back straight away and show everybody they’re still a good team, and when they’ve won they’re going to be on a high,’ he added. ‘It doesn’t matter either way, it’s a difficult game going to Pittodrie. ‘But if we perform the way we’re capable of, we can go to difficult places and pick up points.’