We can still avoid drop says Rice but Accies adrift at bottom after defeat
Hamilton head coach Brian Rice remained defiant after a 1-0 home defeat by Motherwell left his side adrift at the foot of the Scottish Premiership.
Rice, who faces a Scottish Football Association disciplinary hearing next week for comments on referees, refused to discuss a first-half red card for Ronan Hughes.
Mark O'hara netted four minutes later and Bruce Anderson saw the home team's only real chance to equalise saved.
Accies now have three games to rescue their topflight status with a trip to St Mirren followed by games against relegation rivals Kilmarnock and Ross County.
When asked if they can still avoid the drop, Rice said: "Of course we can. Nothing is decided. It just makes it more difficult for us.
"We have said that in the dressing room. It just makes it more difficult and we just need to go harder, go quicker and we need to go stronger."
Hughes was shown a straight red card by Kevin Clancy after a late challenge on Robbie Crawford.
When asked for his thoughts, Rice said: "I'll keep that to myself. I'm in enough trouble, speaking out before. I'm saying nothing about it, absolutely nothing.
"There wasn't a lot in the first half, it was scrappy. It was a poor goal to lose, there wasn't any real danger, and we didn't have enough craft to break them down."
Motherwell boss Graham Alexander praised his side's fight after they avoided a fourth Lanarkshire derby defeat of the campaign.
"We knew it was going to be tough, my experience of the last game was exceptionally tough," said Alexander, whose derby debut ended in a 4-1 defeat.
"We had to come here and be dogged, be aggressive and compete and do all the basics well, which I think we did, and we scored the goal that won the game. I couldn't have asked any more of the players.
"We changed the shape to compete against them in a way which we felt would win the game and we did that."
There was little in the game before the red card. Hughes threw himself into a challenge with Crawford but the Motherwell midfielder got to the ball first and referee Kevin Clancy ruled it serious foul play.
Motherwell took just four minutes to make their advantage count . Christopher Long worked it into O'hara and the midfielder made space to turn and shoot into the bottom corner of the net. Cole came close after turning Aaron Martin following a long throw and Accies went into the interval with everything to do.
They forced some setpieces and kept Motherwell largely on the back foot in the early stages of the half, and created a decent chance midway through when Lee Hodson headed on to Anderson. The on-loan striker got hold of his volley but Liam Kelly was well-positioned to save.
Hamilton: Gourlay, Hamilton, Aaron Martin,easton (Mimnaugh 71), Hodson (Thomas 79), Odofin, Hughes, Mcmann, Callachan (Lewis Smith 68), Munro, Anderson. Subs not used: Redfern, Stirling, Stanger, Moyo,callum Smith, Scully.
Motherwell: Kelly, Magloire, Gallagher, Lamie, O'donnell, Campbell, Crawford, O'hara, Mcginley, Cole, Long (Maguire 64). Subs not used: Carroll, Hastie, Lawless, Mugabi, Dunne, Cornelius, Chapman, Foley.