Brian Rice admits he is relishing the challenge of trying to conquer a new derby rival as he aims to maintain Hamilton’s stronghold over Motherwell in the fixture.
The Accies boss is unbeaten in the last four derby outings against the Steelmen – winning three of them – but Saturday’s clash will be the first experience against new Motherwell gaffer Graham Alexander.
Rice expects a different style from his counterpart having disposed of previous opponents Stephen Robinson and Keith Lasley – who was in interim charge for Hamilton’s 3-0 win at New Douglas Park last month.
Accies have fallen to the foot of the Scottish Premiership since their last derby success and the Steelmen are eight points clear of their rivals, having played a game more.
But Rice believes they can stretch their run to an impressive five games unbeaten when they tackle Alexander’s charges at Fir Park.
Rice, whose side's clash with Livingston last night was postponed, said: “The derby matches are special, even without the crowds. These games just feel different and we’ve been lucky enough in the past few games to have the upper hand.
“But with Motherwell bringing a new manager in, a new way of playing and quite a few new players, it will be an interesting challenge for us.
"I just hope we can maintain the form we’ve showed against them recently.
“We’ll look at the videos and do our homework, try and find their weaknesses and their strengths, as I do with every team.
“But at the end of the day it’s about how we perform that matters.
"We’ve come out on top in the last few games and we’ll be looking to keep that going.”
Accies have won on their last two visits to Fir Park, claiming a 1-0 win in August and a 2-1 victory in December 2019, so it’s been a happy hunting ground.
But Rice admitted it’s a venue he’s always been fond of.
He said: “I love playing at Fir Park.
“I loved it when I was a player, it was one of my favourite places to play, and now I like going there as a manager.
“It’s a tight park, it’s usually a good surface and when your record is good there you enjoy going to these places even more.
“We are under no illusions, the past counts for nothing in derby matches.
“It’s on the day, but I’m very hopeful we can come away with something again.”
Key to another Hamilton success is likely to be new signing Bruce Anderson.
The Aberdeen loanee has hit the ground running with strong performances in a debut against Ross County and Sunday’s impressive 1-1 draw with Rangers.
“Bruce has been a breath of fresh air,” Rice enthused.
“He’s a penalty box player and he’s added something different to us.
“He’s settled in really quickly and I think throwing him in straight away, he never had time to think about it.
“He’s a goalscorer and when I spoke to him I could sense the hunger from him.
“He was right in against Ross County and Rangers and he’s done really well so far.”
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