When Hamilton came to St. Mirren Park a fortnight ago, they should have been two or three goals up inside 20 minutes. They played as if they were the home team and we quite simply couldn't cope with them until something finally clicked and we switched to a back four. While the timewasting and surrounding officials may have been there, there was certainly no sign of the negativity most of usually associate with a side managed by Billy Reid. It was a must win game for both sides, and only one team ever looked like taking three points - and it certainly wasn't us.
That cannot be allowed to happen again. We have to go at Hamilton from the off and show we are here for three points and nothing else. A draw is not an option in games like these any more - we have to go for victory. We haven't won in the league for two months and time is quickly running out. Falkirk will only go on struggling for so long and they have at least managed a win at some point in the last few weeks. There may be a cup final just over a week for now but, to use a cliche, tomorrow is our cup final and we simply must take our chances when they come along.
Arguably, the prospect of a game at Hampden should be used as a positive when it comes to getting the players fired up for tomorrow - give 100 per cent or you won't be playing against Rangers. Sadly, we don't have anywhere near a squad big enough to turn a threat like that into reality, and the players know it. Most of them will be well aware they can continue playing poorly and still grace the national stadium a week on Sunday. That's disappointing, but the changes to the team during the week suggests MacPherson is finally willing to drop under-performing players. Andy Dorman, Billy Mehmet and Steven Thomson were all benched for the game against Motherwell, although I'd expect at least the first two to start tomorrow.
Hopefully, lessons will have been learned from a fortnight ago and we will go with four at the back to combat Hamilton's sole striker. Jack Ross played through the pain on Tuesday and could be fit enough to put in another shift, meaning David Barron can slot into the left side of defence and the impressive Graham Carey can be just in front of him. Chris Innes is racing to be fit, but if it's a back four he'll probably be left on the bench. Up front, Craig Dargo has to start again as Hamilton will easily deal with the aerial threat of Mehmet and Michael Higdon. Mehmet may well get the nod to start alongside him. Starting with a 3-5-2 would be folly and simply can't be allowed to happen. A four man midfield of Carey, Dorman, Thomson and Hugh Murray wouldn't be too bad, although one of Allan Johnston and Garry Brady could keep their place. Chris Smith and Tom Brighton are still out.
When we played Hamilton a fortnight ago, it's fair to say James McArthur was the star of the show. Until then, I hadn't really understood what all the fuss was about, but if he hadn't displayed a shooting prowess worse than Dorman the other night he could have bagged a hat-trick. His runs also tore our defence apart at times and he'll be a real handful to deal with, even if we play a back four. He will almost certainly leave Hamilton in the summer and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him playing in the Premiership next season.
McArthur's poor finishing summed up Hamilton's recent lack of goals. The injury to Mickael Antoine-Curier hasn't helped, although the on loan striker is now fit again and will probably start tomorrow, with Dougie Imrie offering some support from midfield. Like McArthur, Alex Neil is more than capable of causing problems with his forward runs, while the shaven headed Simon Mensing is capable of scoring a rather high number of goals for a defensive midfielder. In defence, Martin Canning and Mark McLaughlin are strong and good in the air, while keeper Tomas Cerny is impressive when he's not getting sent off for flattening our strikers and has this week been linked with Middlesbrough. Accies arguably have a better squad than us (and, even more arguably, a better manager) and it really is a surprise to see them struggling below us - especially as they had a realistic chance of making the top six just a few months ago.