Reid plots Valentine’s Day heartache for ’Well

Feb 12 2009 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

BILLY REID hopes Hamilton’s fine run of form continues on Saturday as he tries to mastermind Valentine’s Day heartache for Motherwell in the Fir Park derby.

Accies go into their third SPL derby of the season with a 100 per cent record from six games in 2009 after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Dundee United pitched them into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

But Reid warned that ’Well boast a strong record themselves – eight games undefeated – and although they’ve punted top scorer Chris Porter they have plenty of firepower.

Only goal difference separates the county sides in the SPL, making for an intriguing encounter, and Reid said: “The boys are flying for the game, as will Motherwell be. I know the surface isn’t the best there and I don’t want to dwell on that but it’s going to be quite a battle.

“We’re maybe better prepared for this game than the other times we’ve played against Motherwell this season but the problem for us is that when you win so many games on the bounce people expect you to just turn up and take the points.

“It doesn’t work that way; we know it’s going to be a really hard game.

“To me, Motherwell lost their best and most influential player in Chris Porter but they’ve still got good players like John Sutton and David Clarkson and they’ll be dangerous opponents.”

Reid was delighted with Saturday’s 2-1 Homecoming Scottish Cup fifth-round win over Dundee United, with a likely quarter-final against Rangers at Ibrox now on the cards.

He said: “To go a goal behind against a team like Dundee United and come back to win the game was sensational. I thought at half-time we were a wee bit unfortunate to go in 1-0 behind because we had started the game pretty well, but United scored and then they took the ascendancy.

“But I said to the players at half-time not to panic, that we were well in the game and our chance would come.

“It was fantastic play by James McCarthy and a great finish by Chris Swailes, our centre-back, and after that we were on the ascendancy. We scored again and almost got another.”

Looking ahead to the quarter-final, the Accies boss said: “We’ve got to give Forfar the credit they deserve but it looks like we’re going to Ibrox again. To go there twice in one season in cup quarter-finals is remarkable.

“We’ve learned a lot from games against Rangers at Ibrox this season.

“The 7-1 game was strange because I never thought it was a 7-1 game but in the 2-0 cup defeat we didn’t perform at all. Rangers were better than us and we were taught a lesson.

“We’ve improved a lot since then and this is a marker to see where we are.”

Accies have been boosted by Reid’s January signings and he reckons this is the strongest squad he’s worked with.

He said: “We made four changes on Saturday because I wanted to freshen things up and see exactly where my squad is. We’re going to need that in future games. This is the strongest squad I’ve had in management and it’s probably the strongest Hamilton Accies have had in many a year.

Reid was pleased with debutants Rocco Quinn and Kenny Deuchar, although the gaffer acknowledged that the latter is short of match-fitness.

“Kenny gives us a different option up front,” he said. “Once he has a few games under his belt, you’ll see a different Kenny Deuchar. “Rocco has quality. I think people could see that and in the first half he cut inside and sent a left-foot shot just over the bar.”