Hamilton boss John Rankin has revealed he will use this week’s unexpected break to help Accies avoid another early Scottish Cup exit this season.
The Championship side were due to face Rangers B in the third round of the SPFL Trust Trophy on Saturday but that clash with the Lowland League outfit has been postponed until November 8 due to international call-ups among both squads.
Instead, Accies will swap New Douglas Park for New Dundas Park tomorrow night when they take on League Two Bonnyrigg Rose in a bounce game.
And it is a match Rankin has taken on to prepare his young squad for the potential pitfalls of facing a lower league side when they enter the Scottish Cup third round on November 26.
Last term, Accies suffered an embarrassing 1-0 defeat away to West of Scotland Premier League side Auchinleck Talbot at that stage under Stuart Taylor and Rankin is making good use of the week off from competitive action, to ensure his team avoid becoming a cup scalp.
He explained: “As soon as I found out the Rangers game was off I spoke to a few clubs to try and arrange a bounce game and we will now play Bonnyrigg tomorrow night behind closed doors.
“And it’s more a case of giving the boys an experience of going to these types of grounds.
“I know last season we got knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Auchinleck so we are using this opportunity to go to one of the smaller grounds, familiarise ourselves with the dressing room space, the size of the pitches and how these places can be.
“Especially for the younger ones, this will be their first experience of being at that type of ground.
“That was part of the idea behind it because we are getting close to the stage where we enter the competition and this will help build up younger players instead of throwing them in deep, because you don’t know what can happen in the draw.
“It’s a case of being comfortable in that sort of surrounding.”
Bonnyrigg sit fifth in League Two with three wins from seven games, while Accies are eighth in the Championship with one win from seven and Rankin expectes a good test.
He added: “I know Bonnyrigg from previous seasons. I used to take teams through there to play pre-season games.
“I know their manager Robbie Horn well from borrowing loan players down the years and it is a great set-up there.
“They run the club really well and when the option came up we were all delighted because it will be beneficial for both clubs.”
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