DAVID Elebert, Hamilton’s goal hero against Dundee on Saturday, has set his sights on helping the side finish second in the First Division this season.

Mar 1 2007 By Andy McGilvray

But he insists Accies haven’t quite given up hope of catching runaway leaders Gretna.

Elebert’s goal gave Hamilton a second 1-0 home win over Dundee this season, while Gretna crashed 2-0 away to Clyde and those results have given the Dublin-born defender new hope.

He said: “I think we can catch St Johnstone and get second place in the league.

“Last week when we lost up there it was a bit of a learning curve.

“St Johnstone away is a hard place to go to anyway, but we went there trying to prove a point and see if we could get a result.

“Unfortunately, lack of experience cost us but at the end of the day we’ve learned from it and bounced back with a 1-0 win at home to Dundee.

“It would be great for the club if we could get second place but Gretna lost on Saturday, so you never know — the wheels might come off yet!

“All we can do is keep pressing, get results and keep going.

“Our dressing room is upbeat so we’ll keep plugging away, keep trying to get three points on the board and take it from there.”

Elebert (20), was delighted to grab his second match-winner against Dundee at New Douglas Park this season. He achieved the same feat back in August and also scored the recent clincher at Livingston.

The talented defender is just pleased to be in the side.

He said: “It’s always good to come up with important goals. It’s great to score but if they’re important goals and match-winners then that’s obviously better.

“I was injured for a while and the problem was that I had a suspension on top of that so it felt as if I was out for ages.

“I hadn’t played since before Christmas and made my comeback at Livingston on January 27.

“I scored the winner that day in the last minute and you can’t get much more dramatic than that. It was a great end to the game.

“Against Dundee on Saturday, it wasn’t quite last-minute but it was excellent to have come back into the side and scored a couple of winners, because it’s kept the lads up there.

“Just getting back into it and getting my feet under the table has been great.”

Like most footballers his age, Elebert, who was released by Championship side Preston North End prior to joining Hamilton in January 2006, is ambitious and hopes one day to play at a higher level.

But he’s grateful for the chance boss Billy Reid has given him and hopes to repay that faith.

He said: “I was released by Preston and that’s always a kick in the teeth, but coming here has been great.

“It took me a couple of games to get into the team, but since I’ve been in I’ve kept my place.

“I’ve got to thank the gaffer for that because he’s kept me in the team and trusted me at the start of the season when things weren’t going so well for me. Hopefully now I’m starting to repay him.

“People say that leaving Preston was taking a step back, but sometimes that’s what you’ve got to do and I’m going forward all the time now, so it was clearly the right thing to do.”