Gillespie demands improvement from Hamilton
Midfielder Grant Gillespie believes Hamilton were given an early-season warning from Championship side Morton in midweek.
Accies went into Tuesday's Betfred Cup last-16 tie against the Greenock side on a high from their opening day 1-1 Ladbrokes Premiership draw against Rangers at Ibrox last Saturday.
However, the Lanarkshire club were brought back down to earth by Jim Duffy's side who reached the quarter-finals with a deserved 2-1 win.
Gillespie, 25, knows Hamilton must improve ahead of the visit of Kilmarnock at the Superseal Stadium on Saturday, and are boosted by the returns of Alex D'Acol and Eamonn Brophy to the squad.
"We got off to a good start against Rangers, a really good performance and I don't know if we took it a bit easy going into the Morton game but the performance was nowhere near the level and standard last Saturday showed we are capable of," Gillespie said.
"So it is about going out on Saturday and putting in that performance again against a strong Kilmarnock team.
"We are no world beaters, we can't just turn it on when we want.
"We know that Morton was probably a wake-up call. We would love to have gone through in the cup.
"A few Premiership teams went out so it was a great chance to even get through to the semi-final of a major trophy but it wasn't to be but we will take that disappointment into Saturday and hopefully that can spur us on."
Kilmarnock are much-changed under Lee Clark, who brought in a new team of players in the summer.
However, Gillespie is looking to make amends for the 4-0 defeat the Killie side of last season handed out in their last visit to Lanarkshire.
He said: "They have brought in 11 or 12 new players but the manager was there last season so we will know his tactics and also we can use the disappointment of the 4-0 game near the end of last season.
"We felt that we didn't show what we are capable of that day.
"They are a strong side, they have always had quality players in their team.
"They will come here with a game plan and it is about us stopping that so hopefully we can do that."
Clark admitted he needs to strengthen his squad after Josh Magennis left Killie to join Charlton this week.
The loss of the 25-year-old is a major blow for Clark but the Rugby Park boss now hopes to convince directors Michael Johnston and Billy Bowie to hand him most - if not all - of the proceeds to reinvest in his squad.
"I want every single penny," said the manager with a grin. "I know the interest rates aren't that high but whatever interest they have made on it I want too. That is the ideal scenario.
"As the manager I will always be greedy like that but in reality this club has to run economically and on a sound footing."
However Clark, who is hoping Greg Kiltie (hamstring) and Miles Addison (ankle) can overcome knocks in time to play this weekend, thinks its a good sign for the Scottish game.
He said: "If you look at the two boys from Dundee - Kane Hemmings and Greg Stewart - and now Josh moving down south, it means the Scottish game is back on the radar.
"It had gone quiet for a few years.
"But on the other hand it's not great for Scottish football because you don't want English sides coming up and taking the best players from outside the Old Firm all the time.
"The challenge for us now is to find these types of player again, develop them and then make sure we get the right deal for Kilmarnock."
Source: PAR
