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Daily Record
Sport
Paul Thomson

Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin says survival battle with Arbroath just got harder, as he admits club have missed out on signings

Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin admits his side's bid for Championship survival just got harder after their sixth defeat on the spin saw them slip six points behind at the foot of the table.

And he has revealed the club missed out on potential signings before today's defeat to Raith Rovers.

Rovers grabbed their first win in five games to leave Lanarkshire with all three points, thanks to Jamie Gullan's ninth-minute strike, and only Ryan Fulton's late penalty save from Aidan Connolly prevented a bigger margin of victory.

It's now just one point from the last 24 for Accies and they fell further behind ninth-place Arbroath - who have played a game more - at the bottom after the Lichties stunned 10-man Dundee.

And as rivals Lichties brought in three fresh faces to Gayfield before their win with the arrivals of ex-West Ham striker Sean Adarkwa, winger Yasin Ben El-Mhanni and midfielder Joao Balde from Hibs, Rankin revealed his side missed out on a number of targets.

He said: "We tried to bring in bodies today but unfortunately it never worked out for us before today's game.

"We are well aware of what bringing in new players means, especially when you are in a struggling position in the Championship,

"I think bringing bodies in who are experienced at this stage of the season is important.

"You see with Arbroath they bring in new signings and it gives their dressing room a lift.

"We need something similar and very soon.

"We had potential over the week previous to bring bodies in. Unfortunately, they either want time to think about it or something else is on the horizon for them.

"It is hard at this stage of the season to get players and, obviously, people will look at the league position as well.

"But we can't wait or delay on things. We have to move on and get the next ones in."

The defeat has cranked up the pressure on Rankin and he added: "We came off the pitch knowing that Arbroath won.

"Today was a chance for us to get points at home. We haven't done that, we've slipped up, so the task becomes that wee bit harder.

"Needs must now, we need to pick up points."

Gullan opened the scoring when he volleyed home from Ross Millen's cross to the back post and both sides had opportunities to net late on.

Accies teen Ryan One's cheeky backheel on the volley forced Jame MacDonald into a top stop after 74 minutes.

Then Fulton produced a fine save to deny Aidan Connolly from the penalty spot seven minutes from time, after Michael Doyle was deemed to have trip Dylan Easton in the box.

Andy Winter could have snatched a point for Accies in 88 minutes but he sliced his strike wide from the edge of the box.

Rankin added: "The goal we lose is disappointing. It has got to be defended a lot better but apart from that I didn't think there was a lot in the game.

"But I don't think we did enough to get anything out of the game."

Meanwhile, Rankin's opposite number Ian Murray was full of praise for Accies' efforts and insists he is happy he will only have to face the bottom side one more time this season.

He said: "It was a really close game. I know Hamilton are struggling and at teh bottom of the table but I thought they gave their manager and the club everything today.

"We started very well and looked very dangerous, but Hamilton showed good energy and made it a right competitive match.

"My personal opinion is I'm glad we are playing them just once more."

Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.

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