Brian Rice hopes home comforts help Hamilton against Hibs

Brian Rice insists home comforts give his Hamilton side confidence heading into Saturday's clash with Hibernian.

Hamilton have won two of their four Ladbrokes Premiership matches at New Douglas Park so far this campaign, including a 2-1 victory over Livingston in their last home outing.

Accies may have gone into the international break on the back of a disappointing 5-0 defeat against Rangers at Ibrox, but Rice said the squad put that result behind them long ago and are fully focused on the visit of Hibs.

And he is targeting maximum points when Hamilton return to home soil this weekend.

"It's done and dusted now,'' he said in reference to the Rangers game. "Even if we'd won a game, for me it's finished on the Sunday morning and we're looking forward and planning for the next one.

"Yes, we lost 5-0 - it was a heavy defeat. We were disappointed, we were hurting but we can't dwell on it. We have to take the positives out of it and take that into the next game.''

When asked what he was expecting from the Hibs clash, Rice said: "Three points. We always feel confident at home.

"Hibs have had two good results - a draw against Celtic and a draw away at Aberdeen.

"But we like to think we're a match for anyone here. We try to win the games, we don't try to sit in.

"So I'm looking forward to the match.''

Rice believes the international break came at a good time for his side following a run of four difficult games since the last break which included encounters with Celtic and Rangers.

He added: "I don't normally like the breaks. I like to keep playing and keep training.

"But I just felt this time was an ideal opportunity to rest the boys up after quite a gruelling schedule for us.

"We gave them one extra day but I think it was beneficial because they've come in, they've trained well, there's a good energy about the place, good enthusiasm. So we're looking forward to Saturday.'

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