Canning: Poor Run Not My Fault

Photo by Jeff Holmes Hamilton boss Martin Canning insists his CV will not be left with a black mark against it if his side let a top-six slot fall through their fingers. Accies are chasing their highest league finish in 79 years but have failed to pick up a win since former player-manger Alex Neil quit to take over at Norwich. Since Neil's best mate Canning took charge in January, the New Douglas Park outfit have taken just three points out of 30. They remain in fifth but the likes of St Johnstone, Dundee and Kilmarnock all have games in hand and are closing in quick. But rookie boss Canning insists the miserable run his side has been on since he took over does not reflect badly on him. Instead he blames the loss of forwards Mickael Antoine-Curier and Tony Andreu - as well as Neil's on-field contribution - during the transfer window for robbing Accies of their cutting edge. Canning, whose side face Lanarkshire rivals Motherwell at Fir Park on Friday, said: "I don't think dropping out of the top six would have anything to do with me. I think it would be down to the circumstances that surrounded the club. "We lost three influential players and have taken a lot of goals out of our team. Alex was taken out of the middle of the park as well. "There has been circumstances behind it. We've had a whole new staff come in and we're trying to make it gel. "For me, if everything had stayed the same and the only difference was that Alex had left and another guy had come in, you could probably say that's where the blame lies. "But with the changes that have been made, then a dip in form was always potentially capable of happening. "We hadn't had a bad run this season until that point and every club gets one. Ours was due to come. It's not as if we are Celtic and winning games comfortably. "We obviously expect better in terms of results but we are realistic enough to know this kind of run is always going to happen for a smaller club. "When you see the changes made then you can see why it's happened. But that won't affect me in any way. "If we do finish top six then great, if we don't then it's been a learning curve for the staff and players."