John Rankin says League Two side Forfar Athletic will attack Hamilton Accies from the first whistle in their Premier Sports Cup tie tomorrow, and they must be ready to handle that aggression.
Accies followed up a 3-0 opening day defeat up in Dundee with a thumping 5-2 win over Stranraer on Tuesday, and continue their Group H campaign as they head to Station Park.
After a stuffy first half, Accies bagged four goals in six minutes against Stranraer, as Andy Winter and Andy Ryan got them on their way before a Matty Shiels double had Accies cruising.
Paul Woods scored two penalties either side of a Lewis Smith strike to complete the scoring at 5-2.
With a final crunch match looming against Queen’s Park next Saturday, the Accies head coach warns his side will need to be on it from the first whistle against Gary Irvine’s Loons.
Rankin said: “It will be a tough game, Forfar is always a tough place to go to.
“It will be similar to Tuesday, in regards to them being after us straight from the word ‘go’.
“We need to be ready for that and be prepared for the early press and the aggressive bit of it.
“But we need to also have the composure to play round about that.
“At times on Tuesday I felt we lost that composure early on, and maybe got into bits and pieces that we didn’t really need to.
“But goals change games, and as soon as we got the first one, the second, third, fourth followed, it’s that quick that the opposition can’t react.
“That was the pleasing thing.”
Rankin says two penalties conceded angered him, because otherwise goalkeeper Ryan Fulton might have had a clean sheet.
But he says young players are going to make mistakes, and it’s how they respond to those that is important.
He said: “The bit I’m really angry about and disappointed about was the two penalties that we conceded – it’s a chance for Fults to have a clean sheet and I’m disappointed that we gave them away.
“But you see the kids coming on the pitch, and the only way for them to learn and not run out and make a challenge like that is to play at this level and to continue to do so.
“We need to be aware that they’re going to make mistakes, and I’m fine with that, as long as they learn from them.”
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