Mark Warburton: I always had faith in Martyn Waghorn

Mark Warburton insists he never doubted Martyn Waghorn after watching the hitman finally break his four-month scoring drought.

The former Wigan hitman opened his Premiership account against Hamilton way back on the first day of the season.

But hamstring troubles and a dip of form have seen him struggle in front of goal in the league since.

He ended his long wait, however, as he grabbed a clinical brace against Accies at the SuperSeal Stadium on Friday night as Gers claimed a 2-1 win.

And his manager stressed his faith in the 26-year-old never wavered.

''Martyn didn't show us anything we didn't know,'' said Warburton. ''I see him day in, day out. Look at Joe Doodoo, Michael O'Halloran, Harry Forrester and Kenny Miller - they give us options. It tells you we are in a decent place. But Waggy came back, he has been patient and he showed how good he can be tonight.''

Waghorn headed home from a Jason Holt cutback a minute before half-time, then slotted past Martin Woods for his second early in the second half.

Gers switched off in the final 15 minutes and were lucky only to concede a Dougie Imrie goal but held on to register a victory which gives them three straight top-flight wins for the first time this season.

Warburton, though, is refusing to get carried away with his side's recent improvements.

''We are just going one game at a time. We have spoken about sample size. We had a lot of new players coming in at the start of the season. Joe Garner was a waste of money three weeks ago and now they are chanting his name all night long. So give the boys time to settle in and gel as a team. They are doing that.''

Hamilton boss Martin Canning said: ''The second goal was crucial. There wasn't a lot in the first half but they got the goal right on half time which is good timing for them. But we stayed in the game, got the goal back and gave ourselves a chance. The last 10 minutes I thought we were on the front foot searching for the opportunity to try to get a point from it, but it wasn't to be.''