Neil hits back at doubters
Alex Neil claims it was "a nonsense" to read and hear about his Hamilton side being consigned to relegation by some in the media after only one game in the Scottish Premiership.
The top flight new boys, who were promoted after a play-off win over Hibernian, lost 2-0 at home to Inverness on the opening day of the season and the Accies player/manager found that conclusions were immediately drawn.
The Lanarkshire side bounced back with a 2-0 win at St Mirren in midweek and ahead of the visit of St Johnstone on Saturday, Neil stressed that there is a long way to go before any assessments on his team can be made.
He said: "I didn't sense that people wrote Accies off after the first game, I read it and one (journalist) was quoted as saying 'that is Hamilton down' and we had played one game.
"It is just a nonsense really. There is a long, long way to go.
"It is not to say that we won't be down there and fighting for our lives. We might be but we might not be.
"It was pleasing that we won the game against St Mirren.
"In the game against Inverness, they were the better side in the first half and we gifted them two sloppy goals.
"But I thought we played well in the second half but we didn't get any plaudits for that whatsoever.
"We read more into it than that and we improved again against St Mirren and showed what we can do and there is more to come."
Neil will assess Tony Andreu (knee) to see if he has any chance of being involved.
Dave Mackay is available for St Johnstone.
The defender was sent off for a last-man foul against Celtic but Saints appealed and his suspension is shelved before the hearing takes place.
Saints knocked Hamilton out of the League Cup last season and midfielder Chris Millar has no fears for the artificial pitch at New Douglas Park - even if he joked that some of his team-mates should.
The 31-year-old said: "We played them last year in the cup and scored three on that plastic pitch which isn't ideal for some of the older boys with their dodgy knees and hips.
"But I don't mind playing on it, you can pass the ball on it."
Source: PA
