Hamilton boss delighted with return of injured players
Things are starting to look up for Hamilton boss Martin Canning after a first win in nine matches coincided with the return of several key players.
Accies had suffered a miserable run in the Ladbrokes Premiership, losing six matches on the bounce while suffering something of an injury crisis.
But after picking up a point against Partick Thistle last week, Hamilton went to Dundee on Saturday and ran out 3-1 winners despite having a player sent off, while Gary Woods and David Templeton have also returned from injury.
The duo missed a month's action each, and the gradual return of experienced players has been a big boost to Canning.
"As a young squad we've got Woodsy and David Templeton back, which brings experience," he said. "We've got Grant Gillespie and Danny Redmond back training as well.
"Ali Crawford and (Georgios) Sarris are only a week away so we're getting that core experience back on the pitch which helps the squad and plays a part (in the upturn in form).
He added: "Regardless of who you've got fit, there's going to be three or four games where you don't pick up the points you want, but the most important thing for us over the past couple of seasons is that you don't get too down about it, because every game is important especially when you haven't won for a couple of weeks.
"The hard part is to replicate it."
The result against Dee moves Accies up to eighth in the table and four points off the top six ahead of their clash with Aberdeen this weekend, but it could easily have been a different story after Massimo Donati's second-half red card.
However, Canning is prepared for another relegation battle this season, after escaping the drop last term in the play-off against Dundee United.
He said: "We're four points off the top six and three points off the bottom, so it will be similar to last season.
"We talked about how tight the league is going to be and (this year) it will be the same.
"There's very little between all the teams and it's usually a mistake either way that costs you points. Thankfully on Saturday that wasn't the case for us.