Hamilton Accies defender Michael Doyle won’t hold back from sticking the boot in when he comes up against his old club Queen’s Park in their Championship clash today.
The 31-year-old has several friends at the club and admits he looks for their results, but Doyle says he will do everything he can to grab three points for Accies at New Douglas Park this afternoon.
And if that means booting a few of them, then at least he will have warned them by text.
Doyle, who spent two years at Queen’s Park before leaving them in the summer, said: “I’m looking forward to playing against boys that I know, but at the end of the day there’s no friends in football.
“I’m going to want to win, they’re going to want to win and I’ll be sending them a wee text message the night before, saying ‘just to let you know, I’m coming for you’!
“They’ll know there are no hard feelings when I put a couple of them up in the air!
“I know a lot of the players there, Tommy Robinson, the left-back that I’m going to be up against, is one of my good mates.
“We go for coffee now and again, but even he knows the friendship gets put away for 90 minutes and it depends on how the result goes if I’ll talk to him after the game!
“But I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
Doyle added: “I’ve got friends at Queen’s Park, I’m still watching for results and wish them all the best – obviously not against us – but I’m going into the game as a Hamilton player.”
Doyle admits it has been frustrating to see Hamilton draw games from winning positions this season, but urges fans to stick by them, and reckons bad luck and injuries have played their part.
He said: “We don’t have a massive squad; when we went up to Cove there we had nine players out and four or five of them are potential starters.
“We’re starting to get a couple of players back, now. We’ve got Lucas de Bolle up on loan from Newcastle and it will be exciting to see what he can do.
“I think a lot is down to not having a big squad; it’s a long season and if you’ve got eight or nine injuries and they all start coming back, things start to build momentum.
“Luck goes against you as well – some of the goals we’ve conceded have been incredible and there’s not a lot you can do.
“Against Ayr United we were 2-1 up with five minutes left, but Andy Murdoch hit a 20-yard volley on his left foot. I’ve played with Andy, and he’s never done that before in his life!
“At Cove, the boy comes off the bench to score an absolute rocket from 30 yards.
“Over the season it will balance itself out, and I hope the fans know that. It’s a long season, 36 games.
“Last season at Queen’s Park we finished fourth and ended up promoted, so it’s how you end your year, not how you start it.”
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