Hamilton boss John Rankin says there’s still all to play for in their Championship play-off against Airdrie, as they go into the home leg with a 1-0 deficit.
Callum Smith’s strike 11 minutes into the second half currently has Airdrie in the lead going into Saturday’s New Douglas Park showdown.
Hamilton will slip into League One if they can’t find their way through.
Rankin says there wasn’t much in the tie at New Broomfield, but admits his side were on the back foot too much.
Connor Smith sent a shot whistling past the left post and had a free kick saved, sub Matty Shiels had a goal disallowed for offside and Dan O’Reilly had a header well saved in the second half.
But Airdrie could have added to their lead after Smith struck, as they head to South Lanarkshire in the driving seat.
Rankin said: “I don’t think there’s a lot in the game. Airdrie get the goal early in the second half, and they probably had more chances after that than they did before they scored.
“I felt we had some good chances in the game, Connor’s chance as he’s going across the goal, Shielsy’s got the goal that’s offside.
“I need to see it again, but I think it is offside anyway.
“You look at the chances that we had in the first half that we didn’t get on target.
“In the second half we’ve got numerous balls in the box from set-pieces, and from different areas, and we didn’t attack the right areas.
“We were maybe a wee bit on the back foot, rather than proactive in their box, but we need to be ready to go on Saturday and take our chances when they come.”
Rankin has always said that staying in the tie was vital, and at 1-0 they can still turn things around at New Douglas Park.
But he admits they will need to be better in attack and defence.
Rankin said: “I think it’s all to play for on Saturday, and we find ourselves a goal behind after the first leg, again.
“The boys are disappointed, but I’m more disappointed with the way we conceded the goal, than anything.
“I felt it was a second ball and we could probably have had a wee bit more composure, trying to get it under control.
“After that, we have to defend it better.
“But the important thing was to stay in the game, we’ve done that, it’s 1-0, and it’s all to play for.
“It’s half-time, so we need to be ready to go again.
“There’s not a lot of time between now and Saturday to get ready to go again, but we’ve done it before this season, gone Tuesday-Friday effectively.
“It will be a case of looking at injuries and knocks, and assess what we can get out on the pitch.”
Dario Zanatta suffered an ankle knock that kept him in at the interval, but Rankin says that was precautionary.
He said: “There’s no swelling on it, so he might be OK for Saturday.
“He’s not on crutches or anything like that, so that’s promising.”
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
