Lewis Smith says Hamilton Accies' rally in the second half of their Championship campaign can provide the basis for a strong start to next season.
The 22-year-old midfielder couldn't help Hamilton to a positive result in their final home match of the season on Saturday as Raith Rovers brushed them aside in a 2-0 win at New Douglas Park.
But he believes their form of late - which has seen them lose just four times in 16 outings in 2022 - is encouraging for next season's promotion push.
Smith, who signed a contract extension in November to keep him at Accies until 2024, had been kept out of the starting line-up for the past six weeks but made his return to the fold against Rovers.
Accies can now only finish as high as sixth going into a final day clash with Inveness and Smith said: "It's been a few weeks since I was in the line up so it was good to be back out there, but obviously we are really disappointed with the result.
"We wanted to finish the season strongly for the fans more than anything else, but we couldn't get the result.
"I feel we have got better over the course of the season and we have picked up a lot more points and pushed up the table, so hopefully we can keep that momentum going [against Inverness] and into next season.
"Hopefully we can start well and we will be in a much better position.
"Pushing for promotion is where we aim to be. We want to be in that top part of the league."
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