Neil happy to see Hamilton bounce back to prove cynics wrong
HAMILTON
v ST JOHNSTONE
SPFL Premiership New Douglas Park, today, 3pm Coverage on BBC Radio Scotland website
ALEX Neil claims it was “a nonsense” to read and hear about his Hamilton side being consigned to relegation by some in the media after only one game in the Scottish Premiership.
The top flight new boys – who were promoted after a dramatic play-off win over Hibernian – lost 2-0 at home to Inverness on the opening day of the season and the Accies player/manager found that conclusions were immediately drawn.
The Lanarkshire side bounced back with a 2-0 win at St Mirren in midweek and ahead of the visit of St Johnstone today, Neil stressed that there is a long way to go before any assessments on his team can be made.
He said: “I didn’t sense that people wrote Accies off after the first game, I read it and one (journalist) was quoted as saying ‘that is Hamilton down’ and we had played one game.
“It is just a nonsense really. There is a long, long way to go.
“It is not to say that we won’t be down there and fighting for our lives. We might be but we might not be.
“It was pleasing that we won the game against St Mirren.
“In the game against Inverness, they were the better side in the first half and we gifted them two sloppy goals.
“But I thought we played well in the second half but we didn’t get any plaudits for that whatsoever.
“We read more into it than that and we improved again against St Mirren and showed what we can do and there is more to come.”
St Johnstone might have seen more departures than arrivals this summer but midfielder Chris Millar believes some recent additions to the first team can play a big role.
Saints lost four of their William Hill Scottish Cup-winning squad without replacing them before the start of the season, as Paddy Cregg, Nigel Hasselbaink, Chris Iwelumo and Tim Clancy departed.
Top goalscorer Stevie May then left for Sheffield Wednesday but former Liverpool player Adam Morgan came in on loan from Yeovil as an instant replacement.
Millar feels the 20-year-old will score goals and he has also been impressed with the contribution of young midfielders Liam Caddis and Scott Brown, who are looking to establish themselves in the first team.
Millar said: “The two of them have been excellent.
“Browny will be disappointed he didn’t play against Celtic because he’s been excellent so far, but Liam Caddis came in and did well, and he’s done well in European games.
“The two of them have been a big part in the squad and I’m sure they will play plenty of games. They have been excellent in training and in games.”
On Morgan, Millar added: “He looks sharp, he looks as if he can play. He’s been at Liverpool so he obviously has a good pedigree and scored a lot of goals for their reserves.
“Once he gets a chance here and gets a few games under his belt, I’m sure he will score goals for us.”