Midfield ace Mensing hopes Accies fire themselves into a cup final

Oct 6 2011 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

SIMON Mensing insists Hamilton will be working hard on finishing this week in a bid to blast themselves into the Ramsdens Cup Final.

Accies face Livingston at New Douglas Park in Sunday’s semi-final, aiming to bounce back from Saturday’s 1-0 defeat against Falkirk at the same venue, which denied them the chance to go back on top of the First Division.

A place in the final next April against either Annan Athletic or Falkirk awaits the winner and Mensing admits he’s looking forward to Sunday’s clash.

Mensing (29) said: “It’s good to take the positives out of the game and for us the general play and possession was fine – we’ve just got to be a bit more clinical in the final third and take one or two chances.

“Fingers crossed that happens on Sunday, but we’ve had a week to prepare and that’s what we’ll be working on.

“We’re disappointed that we didn’t go back on top of the league but we’re still upbeat.

“I think it’s good to have a cup semi-final to look forward to – you want to win every game you play in and Sunday is no different.

“We’re going into the game knowing there’s a place in the final at stake, so that’s something we’ll be concentrating on and it’s a game we're looking forward to.

“Normally I’m suspended or injured for these games, so I think it will be the first semi-final that I’ve played in this competition.

“It’s a game I’m looking forward to and one that we will be looking to win and progress to the cup final.”

Mensing admits Hamilton didn’t work Falkirk keeper Michael McGovern enough on Saturday, but felt there was an overall improvement in their performance.

He said: “It was a chance to go top of the league and it was very frustrating that we didn’t take it, considering the way we played.

“I thought we dominated for long spells of the game but we didn’t create nearly enough chances to go and get a couple of goals.

“Our general performance, in keeping the ball, was pleasing considering the change from last week against Dundee, but I certainly thought we were worthy of a point out of the game anyway.

“We dominated a lot of possession but didn’t create a lot of chances, which we thought we should have done and that was the frustrating thing.

“Fair enough, we could hold our hands up and say it was one of those days if we had dominated possession and their goalkeeper had pulled off world-class saves, but I don’t think he had much to do.

“That’s something we’re going to have to look at and hopefully address in time for Sunday.”

lAdmission for Sunday’s semi-final has been reduced to £10 for adults and £5 concessions (over-65s and under-18s).