Hamilton 'hurting' after Annan defeat, says Aaron McGowan
The Accies lost their first League Cup group stage tie 1-0.
Aaron McGowan admits the Hamilton players are "hurting'' after they fell to defeat in his debut for the club.
Accies went down 1-0 to League Two side Annan in the Betfred Cup on Saturday ahead of facing Livingston on Tuesday.
While Martin Canning fielded a new-look side with five debutants, McGowan was frustrated with the performance and is looking to put that right next time out.
"I wouldn't say it's a learning curve, but it's a reality (check),'' he said. "We have looked sharp in training but that doesn't matter, you have to do it on game day.
"We should be beating Annan but it was poor from the off and very disappointing.
"We are all hurting and have to put it right on Tuesday.''
He added: "Every game is important, but you have to play for pride and for the shirt, and we never did that (against Annan).
"It's a good chance to put it right, it is good that the games are coming round thick and fast so that we can try and put things right but we are very disappointed with how it went.''
Accies hit the woodwork twice but were otherwise ineffectual in the final third but even though it is early in pre-season, McGowan, who joined from Morecambe this summer, is more interested in results than the performance.
"It's a results game,'' he said. "You need to win games and we want to progress in the Betfred Cup and we need to win games to have a chance.'