Neil: Teams Are Working Accies Out

Photo by Jeff Holmes Hamilton boss Alex Neil admits his side will find the second quarter of the season harder than their sensational first as opposition bosses look to snuff out his exciting youngsters. The newly-promoted Accies caused a stir when their nine-match unbeaten run took them to the top of the Scottish Premiership. That impressive set of results was enough to see player-manager Neil claim the SPFL Scottish Premiership manager of the month award for October. But Accies have now slipped behind new front-runners Dundee United and crashed out of the League Cup after Dundee, Aberdeen and Partick all found ways to stifle the New Douglas Park side. Now Neil believes other sides will make stopping Accies playing their first priority as the season progresses. He said: "It will become more difficult as people become more familiar with us. I found at the start of the season people were coming here thinking they were better than us and just trying to outplay us. "But we quickly showed that if we can play as well as we can, we are a match for anyone. We've seen these last few games that teams are now trying to stop us playing, which is a bit more difficult." But Neil does not believe this weekend's opponents Inverness will adopt such negative tactics. He said: "I don't think Inverness will do that. I think they will believe in the way they play and hopefully we can play as well as we can. We won't set out to stop them. We want to play our own game." Accies opened the season with a 2-0 defeat to John Hughes' men before bouncing back in spectacular fashion with their unbeaten run - a streak which included their famous 1-0 win over Celtic at Parkhead. But a 2-0 reverse to Dundee and 3-3 draw with Partick in the league, coupled with their League Cup exit at the hands of the Dons, has taken the shine off their stunning start. Neil though is still full of pride and insisted the credit for his award should go to his troops. "It is recognition for everything the players have done during October," said the Accies boss. "Obviously we beat Celtic and Aberdeen so it is merited for what we have done. It's not just for me. It's mostly for the team and how well they have done. "It's pleasing to get the award but I'm just hoping the old curse doesn't come back to haunt us on Saturday. We want to get back to winning ways against Inverness."