Canning calls for clear heads as Accies aim to halt slide

Martin Canning is looking for his Hamilton players to empty their minds of Premiership woes before hosting Dundee on Saturday.

The New Douglas Park side's comprehensive 3-0 defeat by Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Sunday - which left them with two wins in 17 games - kept them in 10th place in the table, four points ahead of Kilmarnock who are in the relegation play-off zone and nine ahead of bottom side Dundee United.

The last fixture before the split see Accies host Paul Hartley's sixth-place side and the Hamilton's player/manager wants the focus to be on victory.

Canning said: "We are in the situation we have been in for the last two months.

"We have to make sure we clear our minds and go again.

"We are very good at putting a bad result and bad performance to the back of our minds and that is something we are going to have to do.

"We have to make sure we stick together and continue to fight and that is something we have done all season and no doubt we will do again.

"Dundee becomes the next challenge and we will try to take three points.

"Their big strength is their front three - Rory Loy, Kane Hemmings and Greg Stewart. Four if you include Gary Harkins.

"We have to make sure we deal with that and make sure we are a threat going the other way.

"But it (belief) is definitely still there. If you go back to Inverness two weeks ago, we won and we were thinking, 'Let's kick on now'.

"The next match against Partick Thistle was a strange one, our keeper Michael McGovern didn't touch the ball with his hands during the game and we conceded two goals from crosses, after being 1-0 up and reasonably comfortable.

"There is not a lot wrong with performances, obviously Aberdeen on Sunday didn't go right.

"But Dundee becomes huge so we need to try to win the game.''