Goalscorer Gordon full of praise for defeated Saints

Hamilton have opened up a five-point lead over relegation rivals St Mirren but Ziggy Gordon fears the Buddies will be hard to shake.

For the second time this season, Martin Canning’s team netted three times against the Paisley outfit to claim a vital win.

Saints went into Saturday’s clash at the Simple Digital Arena hoping to leapfrog Accies out of the drop zone.

But there was only disappointment for Oran Kearney’s side as they were beaten 3-1 at home to allow 10thplaced Hamilton to extend their advantage over the bottom two.

Yet the fight St Mirren showed as they scrapped all the way impressed defender Gordon – and he does not believe the manner of their latest setback will harm their resolve.

Gordon – who netted just the sixth goal of his career to put Accies 2-0 up – said: “I don’t believe this will affect St Mirren mentally.

“They looked down and buried having gone a dozen or so games without a win between beating Dundee on the opening day of the season and Hearts last week.

“But they showed they have a lot of enthusiasm. They fought all the way to the end which is not like a lot of teams when they go 2-0 down at home.

“The crowd can get on your back and you can end up going into your shell.

“But I think they can be proud of themselves. We had to match their spirit but I think we’ve got that bit of quality that they didn’t have.

“It’s enjoyable winning games, but it’s never enjoyable playing in them. We would love to play expansive attacking football, but sometimes you need to roll up the sleeves and get a result.”

Saints were undone by three moments of quality from James Keatings.

The Accies forward swung over two great set-piece deliveries as Dougie Imrie and Gordon netted before finishing off a swift counterattack with a sublime finish.