‘We played like amateurs,’ says embarrassed Hamilton midfielder Docherty

HAMILTON midfielder Greg Docherty branded Accies amateurs for failing to take full advantage of a first-minute lead against a vulnerable Rangers unit.

Danny Redmond’s strike stunned the visitors but they were allowed to move out of crisis and through the gears to establish a 3-1 lead by the 27th minute.

That led to a furious reaction from Martin Canning at the interval on Friday night at the Superseal Stadium, one that was understandable and accepted by Docherty.

‘At half-time, the gaffer went through us and rightly so,’ said Docherty.

‘After the game he wasn’t so angry, he was more embarrassed for us.

‘And that was probably worse, to be honest.

‘It was an embarrassing performance from us. Amateur stuff — and that is not like us. Rangers had a bit of pressure during the week and we had to pounce on it.

‘But we shot ourselves in the foot. It is frustrating. After we got the goal, we should have kept doing what we were doing because it worked. Maybe the goal came so early it gave Rangers a shake but once we get ahead we should be seeing games out — and that has been our downfall the last two weeks.

‘I think we sat back too much and it killed us a bit. We’re now in a tough position because we have lost four games on the bounce. That’s not where we want to be.’

Pointless from a hard slate of September fixtures — Celtic, Hearts, St Johnstone and Rangers — Accies face a derby against Motherwell followed by bottom-six rivals Ross County, Partick and Dundee in October.

‘These teams are in the same position as ourselves so it is going to be a battle but we’ve brought that upon ourselves,’ said Docherty.

‘We have to stick together

and give ourselves a shake.’

Meanwhile, Docherty’s inclusion in Scot Gemmill’s Under-21 squad for games away to England and Latvia puts an end to any doubts regarding his international future.

Docherty (right) is eligible for Republic of Ireland through his grandparents, a pathway that was raised as a possible to pursue when left out of the squad for last month’s 2-0 win over Holland.

‘I don’t know how the Ireland thing was put out there, I was never contacted by them and I didn’t plan on getting contacted by them,’ said Docherty.

‘My aim was to get a Scotland call and I’ve done that.’