Canning wants to see mental strength

Hamilton boss Martin Canning was not too downcast despite seeing his side slip closer to the bottom two with defeat to Partick Thistle.

Accies let a one-goal lead slip on Saturday and ended up on the wrong side of a 2-1 defeat that sees them fall down to 10th in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Thistle’s win means they climb above Ross County to 11th place and closes the gap on Hamilton to just two points with four games to play this season.

But with County to play next week, Canning knows his side are still in a good position to secure safety.

He said: “There’s not a lot in the game and we ended up losing.

“But we are not in the bottom two, we are still in a position where it’s in our own hands and we’ve got

“There’s not a lot in the game and we ended up losing”

to regroup, regardless. You have to be mentally strong and wipe it out ahead of next Saturday.”

David Templeton opened the scoring for Accies against the run of play – though they could have had a penalty – on an afternoon that saw prematch tributes to former manager of both clubs John Lambie.

Thistle produced an eight-minute turnaround in the second half that could change their fortunes this season.

Goals from Kris Doolan and Ryan Edwards secured a vital three points and a first win since late January.

With Accies and County set to play each other next week, it gives the Jags another chance to either edge closer to safety or put a bigger gap between themselves and the Staggies at the bottom.

Boss Alan Archibald’s side travel to face a St Johnstone side who look to be safe in mid-table.