Hamilton Accies set for title crunch

Apr 9 2008 By Andy McGilvray

HAMILTON boss Billy Reid has urged his side to use their 2-0 defeat against Livingston in December as motivation to dump Mark Proctor’s side on Saturday.

Accies go into the game knowing that victory in their next two games will clinch the title and avoid a last-day crunch at Dundee, but Reid is looking no further ahead than Saturday’s Almondvale visit.

Even with a 3-1 home win against Livingston in February, Reid feels Hamilton have still to play well against the West Lothian side, and wants that to start on Saturday.

He said: “That is motivation for us because we can say to the players that we didn’t play well against Livingston the last time we went to Almondvale.

“In fact, I don’t think we’ve played too well in any of the games against them.

“Livingston will be dangerous but we’ll keep our feet on the ground, work hard in training, and the pleasing thing is that it’s not a case of working on fitness levels at the moment, it’s about keeping everybody fit.

“We have a clean bill of health. Tom Parratt is now training and Bryn Halliwell, who picked up a dead leg, will be fine now as well.”

The gaffer added: “I expect to have a full squad to choose from, which for me is going to be difficult because we have so many good players here.

“On Saturday, we left Mark Gilhaney on the bench, and he’s been great for me, but I’ll call it the way I see it.”

Reid was delighted with Saturday’s 2-0 win over St Johnstone and feels that exorcised their 2-1 defeat at McDiarmid Park in February.

He said: “I was absolutely delighted with that result.

“We were brilliant.

“We defended well, we had energy, touch and vision in the middle of the park, and we worked really hard up front.

“We were outstanding on Saturday all over the park, and to highlight any individual would be wrong, because I thought it was a real team performance.

“However, somebody asked me about James McArthur and all I can say is ... what a player!

“He’s 20 years old but he actually said to me before the game ‘just enjoy it’ — what a cheeky wee sod he is! — but it just shows the confidence he has.”

Reid continued: “If they continue to play in the right manner and do the things I’m asking them to do, then they won’t be far away.

“It’s in our hands and we can only lose it now but we’re running out of games.

“Some of the younger players are saying they’re feeling the pressure, but maybe that’s a benefit to them that they don’t realise.

“Chris Swailes is 37 years old, he’s been a stalwart in the English game all his days and played over 500 senior games, but he’s never won a championship — that tells you everything.

“We’ve got seven guys under 20 in there, and they’ve got a chance of winning the First Division championship.

“For me, because it’s only one team going up, that’s as hard a league as any to win and most managers will tell you that.

“But we’ve not won it yet. We’re keeping our feet on the ground and we move onto the next game.”