Neil hungry for win over Saints

Apr 26 2007

HAMILTON captain Alex Neil insists he doesn’t care who wins the First Division championship on Saturday... as long as his side ends the season with a bang.

Neil is well aware that visitors St Johnstone can clinch the title with a win at New Douglas Park, should Gretna fail to beat relegation-haunted Ross County, but Accies need three points to guarantee a third-placed finish.

Neil (25), reckons Hamilton’s destiny is in their own hands, and said: “We need to beat St Johnstone. We know they won against Queen of the South on Saturday while Gretna slipped up against Clyde, and that means Saints can win the championship at our place, but our focus is on where WE finish in the league.

“Whoever finishes top of the league... that’s up to them. We’ll be trying our best on Saturday to make sure we get third spot.

“It’s the last game of the season and we want to play well in front of our own fans and top off the season with a good performance rather than whimper out.”

Hamilton would have been guaranteed third place already had they taken a point from Dens Park on Saturday — but lost 1-0 due to controversial circumstances.

Alex appeared to be pushed by Bob Davidson before the Dundee star swung in a cross that led to a penalty, and Derek Lyle’s 62nd-minute winner.

Midfield ace Neil is in no doubt that a draw was the least Accies deserved, and said: “It was a hard one to take because I thought we did enough to win the game.

“We’re disappointed because we had been on a good run of late.”

Neil was deployed in an unaccustomed defensive role at Dens on Saturday, but slotted in comfortably.

Whether Hamilton finish third or fourth, Neil reckons it’s been a rewarding season.

He said: “Looking back at the start of the season, with defeats at Gretna and Queen’s Park, and the fact that we’ve had a few injuries, if you’d told us then that we would finish third or fourth I think we would have accepted that.”