Hamilton boss Martin Canning gets backing from chairman Les Gray

Hamilton chairman Les Gray has urged fans to get behind manager Martin Canning following their 8-1 defeat by Celtic.

Canning has come under fire after Accies followed their recent shock 4-1 William Hill Scottish Cup loss by Ladbrokes League Two side Annan with an equally painful experience at Parkhead on Tuesday night.

Accies have only won once in 15 matches but Gray has stood by player/manager Canning, who was appointed 12 months ago.

In a statement, Gray said: Obviously recent results have been very disappointing but we have been here before in previous seasons and we believe that our players and management team will come through this difficult period with our support.

We will continue our policy of developing our own young players which has proven to be very successful and we will continue to search for the players that can augment what we do within our budget, which can prove very difficult.''

Gray, whose side sit 10th in the Ladbrokes Premiership ahead of Sunday's visit of Hearts, added: We have had positive results against the vast majority of Premiership teams this season and it was only around six weeks ago that we were sitting fifth in the table, therefore demonstrating that things can change very quickly.

We would ask that our fans get behind the manager and the players during this difficult run of results.

Together we all hurt when things are not going as we would wish, but fans, community, players, staff, management and directors in alignment are what makes our club what it is.

Together we can make the difference, divided we'll fail, so on behalf of all of us with a love for our club, let's keep the faith and collectively support our team positively and with passion to get things back on track.''