Canning: I'll fight to turn this around

Hamilton player-manager Martin Canning insists there is "plenty of fight'' left in him as he tries to recover from a shock result he claims will anger him for the rest of his career.

The struggling New Douglas Park side were dealt another blow with a 4-1 defeat at League Two outfit Annan in the fourth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

It left Accies with just one win from 13 games and they sit in 10th place in the Premiership, two points ahead of Kilmarnock and 13 ahead of bottom side Dundee United.

It was the "lowest point'' of Canning's "footballing life'' and ahead of the trip to St Johnstone on Saturday, the 34-year-old was asked if he expected to survive the trip to Galabank.

He said: "You never know because it is a bad result. It is miles away from what we expect from ourselves and on the back of a bad run as well.

"I think if things had been going great and you have that result it is a boot in the you-know-whats and you move on, but the way things were going it was a bad day to happen.

"The board have always been supportive of me to be fair. We talk pretty much daily, and from my point of view we don't need to talk about it, I know it is not good enough.

"I know you can't continue to do what's happening just now, we have got to make sure we turn it and start winning games.

"But I will keep my head down and keep on working as hard as I can. There is plenty of fight in me.

"The reaction this week has been good and we need to make sure we continue that into the weekend and try to win the game.

"We need to make sure we go to St Johnstone positive and strip things back, back to basics, if you like.''

The former Gretna and Hibernian defender admits he is still coming to terms with the performance of his side at Annan.

"This is Wednesday and I am still angry,'' he said.

"I will probably never recover from that in terms of whenever I think of it I will be angry because it is not acceptable, the performance levels and the manner we concede goals, which is the real issue, whether it is in the league, or at League Two Annan.

"That is no disrespect to Annan because they did their homework and deserved to win the game but to defend like that is miles away and still frustrates me.''