Neil McCann reckons Hamilton Accies lack the “grit and nastiness” required to get points on the board in the Premiership and he insists boss Brian Rice must find a player who can to turn their season around.
The Sportscene pundit and former Rangers winger didn’t pull his punches when he analysed rock bottom Hamilton’s 2-1 defeat to Dundee United at Tannadice yesterday, which saw the Terrors bounce back from Ross Callachan’s opener to win thanks to a Nicky Clark double.
And McCann reckons Brian Rice’s Accies, who have won twice in 13 games this season, are lacking the players required to dig out results for the Premiership’s bottom side.
He said: “The thing is in past seasons Hamilton have always had a little bit of grit and a little bit of nastiness to dig results out when it’s not going well and bounce back, with players like (Darian) MacKinnon and (Dougie) Imrie.
“They don’t have that so Brian Rice has to find someone who can galvanise the middle of the pitch, just to stop that, let them get a foothold and maybe get some points on the board.”
Callachan blew the chance to take a share of the spoils when he blazed a second half penalty over the bar, after Jamie Robson was penalised for handball.
And McCann said it was a “horrible” miss.
He added: “I wonder if Callahan was pulling his arm because they looked interlinked to me.
“It’s a big claim from Callachan, maybe he put pressure on the referee to give it and he succumbed to that pressure.
“But my goodness that is horrible when you see it.
“He dispatched one into the top corner at Easter Road, a similar type going across the (goalkeeper’s) body and driving it into the top corner.
“But that one isn’t even close.
“He’ll have nightmares about that.”
Fellow pundit Julie Fleeting, however, has belief Accies can defy the critics and prove the doubters wrong once again.
She said: “If it wasn’t Hamilton I’d be very worried, but they do seem to have that bouncebackability, where they surprise people every season.
“Time will tell (if they still have it) but they certainly had moments last season where they had that, but they will need to start picking up points because they are gifting far too many goals, they are not defending very well.”
Accies now host Aberdeen on Wednesday evening looking for their first league win since September 12, when they beat Livingston 2-1 at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
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