Canning signs up for another year

May 28 2009 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON defender Martin Canning was this week rewarded for a solid season with a new one-year deal at the club.

‘Canzo’ signed in September after his release from Hibs and went through a tough period in which he was red-carded three times against Rangers and Celtic, but has recovered and become a first-choice in Billy Reid’s defence.

And he’s delighted that Reid has shown faith in him by securing his services for season 2009-10.

He said: “I think it’s worthwhile and I’m pleased because it’s been a good season and hopefully we can push on even further next term.

“I went through a wee patch with a few red cards and I spoke to the manager about that last week; we ended up laughing about it.

“Basically everything that could have gone wrong for me at that point did, and I even gave away a penalty against Celtic for a foul outside the box.

“I’m experienced enough to be able to deal with that, but if that had happened to a younger player it could have had a bad effect on them.

“But I’ve been pretty pleased with my performances since the turn of the year with the exception of the Motherwell game – and we all had an off-day.”

Canning is delighted with Hamilton’s ninth-placed finish and feels that it’s reward for an excellent season.

He said: “Finishing ninth is massive for Hamilton and for ourselves.

“Staying in the league was the more important target, but after we had secured that it was all about finishing as high as we could.

“I think we’ve finished as highly as anyone who has just come up from the First Division – in fact I think we’ve ended up higher than anyone has, including St Mirren who have had an excellent three seasons in the Premier League.

“That’s an amazing achievement for a club like Hamilton and we’re all delighted – but I’m looking forward to going on holiday on Saturday!”