Manager's Comments, 3rd March 2006
With the cup tie last week having ended in a draw, we now have to play Dundee three times in a row. The last time this happened, when we played Queen of the South in three consecutive matches, it was a slightly different situation as were still in contention for the league and the points were very important. That's not to say that they're not important just now, we want to go there and win the game and finish as high up the table as possible. But I would be lying if I didn't say that the main consideration now has got to be the cup. It's a massive game for the club as we all know and the focus is certainly going to be on that.
I think we may freshen things up a bit for Saturday's game. We've got a few guys with niggling injuries and one or two coming back from injury who haven't played in recent weeks. I don't want to give too much away but it's important that I make the right decisions so that people have match fitness and prepare properly for the game on Thursday. We're going away on Wednesday to a hotel at Carnoustie in preparation for the game. We didn't do that for the first game because it was at home but in this case I think it's important that we get the players away from their usual environment and get them rested up and prepare as best we can for the game.
It's a tricky pitch at Des Park and it can be quite slippy so we'll make sure the players have the right footwear for the surface. It'll be different to our FieldTurf surface, which is the same all the time. I was up at their game against Airdrie and the surface can be a bit bumpy so it's a different game. However, I can assure all the Hamilton fans that we'll be ready for the game. We've been assured by Dundee that the park is fine, thanks to their under soil heating. The overnight weather will make a difference to the roads around the stadium but we will find out mid morning if the game will go ahead or not.
But we'll assume the game goes ahead - as we have done all week. The preparations have gone well this week and the players are bubbling with anticipation about the cup tie on Thursday and it would be nice to win the game tomorrow but I don't think it will have any bearing on the cup game whatsoever. It's interesting that the cup has drawn us against teams managed by two former Clyde managers. We got the better of Allan Maitland's team and I hope we can also get the better of Alan Kernaghan's team.
As we are now very unlikely to win the league (although we still hope to finish as high up the table as possible), we will use the remaining league games to take a look at some of the younger players. It's ironic that Paul McLeod and Tony Stevenson have gone on loan to Alloa but it will be excellent experience for them to get a run of games in the second division. Work has already started on building the squad for next season - you can't wait for the end of the season to do this. It's our first season as a full time club and it has been an eye opener for me and we'll learn as we go along and hopefully we can finish the season on a high.
I said at the time of the Challenge Cup final, and I told the players right after the game, that this club was going to be involved in big games in the future. There's none bigger than the one we're about to face on Thursday.
Long may it continue.
Billy Reid
