Levein backs United to bounce back

So far, 2009 has not been a particularly good year for the Tannadice side, who missed out on a place in the Co-operative Insurance Cup final following an epic penalty shootout defeat to Celtic, before losing at Rangers last week in the SPL.Levein would have been forgiven for heading into today's Scottish Cup clash at New Douglas Park with a sense of trepidation, especially as his players have failed to overcome Accies so far this season.His worst fears were confirmed when Chris Swailes netted a swift double after the break to book Hamilton a place in the quarter-finals and leave the Arabs boss having to pick his side up again ahead of next week's league encounter with a rejuvenated Inverness."We have had three really hard matches recently," admitted Levein."We had the semi-final, we were at Ibrox - which is always difficult - only a few days after the semi-final and today's game was a hard match."I looked at today's match and thought there was a chance we could lose today. But we will be fine for next week."Hamilton triumphed over United on the opening day of the season, before claiming a point in their last meeting at Tannadice.But Levein rejected suggestions the Lanarkshire outfit were something of a bogey team for his side.He said: "We played them last season and we won and no-one was saying they were a bogey team."This season, in the first game of the season, we didn't play well at all. In the last couple of matches, I felt we were just a bit unlucky."The game is never over at half-time but, certainly, with a second goal we would have felt reasonably comfortable today."There was a suggestion Brian Easton handled before winning the corner which he then delivered to Swailes for Saturday's winner.Levein said: "I didn't think there was a handball, I know there was a handball. But, after that, we had opportunities to clear the ball."All credit to Hamilton, they are through to the next round. And, as every manager says when they have gone out a cup competition, we can concentrate on the league now."Hamilton manager Billy Reid was full of praise for the battling qualities his players demonstrated after falling behind to Danny Grainger's opener.He said: "To go a goal behind against a team like Dundee United and come back and win the game is sensational for us."I thought at half-time we were a bit unfortunate to be a goal behind; I thought we started the game pretty well."I said to the players at half-time that we were well in the game and our time would come."It was fantastic play from James McCarthy and a great finish from Chris Swailes. After that, I thought we were in the ascendancy. All credit to the players, we deserved our win."Hamilton have now won all six of their matches in 2009 and, when asked how long they can keep it going, Reid said: "I don't know but it's a good run for us."We have deserved it and we are looking solid. We have conceded today to a free-kick and we are disappointed about that."We are not going to get carried away. We are in the next round of the cup and we look forward to a derby game next week at Motherwell."

Source: Team_Talk