New Hamilton signing Tom Sparrow revealed Accies legend Alex Neil sent him north on a rescue mission to get them out of the relegation mire.
And the 19-year-old hopes if he can help them pull off a great escape, it just might land him a new deal at Stoke City.
Stoke gaffer Neil has done his old side a favour by loaning out the youngster, who can play in defence or midfield, on a deal until the end of the season, as Accies aim to claw their way off the bottom of the Championship table.
And while it is a big season for the New Douglas Park outfit, it could also prove to be a pivotal one at The Potters for Sparrow with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.
Sparrow, who made his debut in yesterday's 1-0 defeat to Ayr, said: "Alex told me all about where I was going and that Hamilton is a really good club, offering me a really good opportunity.
"Him and Canzo [Stoke assistant and ex-Accie Martin Canning] are obviously both former managers here so they just said to me I'm going up to their neck of the woods to try and help Hamilton get off the bottom of the table.
"He said it's a good club, with good people and they shouldn't be where they are, so hopefully I can help them.
"I think the standard is a lot higher than I expected, without being disrespectful, and it was a good level, like Alex said it would be.
"I felt this was a good test for me and it should be for the next four months.
"The biggest thing for me is to get games here. I need to start playing senior football and hopefully my time here can help me to progress and kick on in the summer.
"I've played one game in the Championship for Stoke, one in the cup and came on as a sub twice.
"My contract with Stoke is up in the summer, but they've got an option to extend that, so this is important for me to get some exposure and get games."
Sparrow was thrown straight into the starting line-up against Ayr as Accies were undone by former player Josh Mullin.
He netted the only goal of the game after 32 minutes with a deflected free-kick, but Sparrow felt the defeat - Hamilton's seventh on the spin in the league - was tough to swallow.
He said: "I thought in the first half we probably dominated the game, apart from the goal, which came from a lucky deflection.
"We had a few chances and felt hard done by to go in a goal down at half-time.
"We tried to build in the second half and we just couldn't get the equaliser."
Reegan Mimnaugh came agonisingly close to an equaliser, but the ball was somehow cleared off the goaline when he looked set to score and it means Accies remain six points adrift of Arbroath and 10 off safety.
"I think if we weren't at the bottom of the table, that goes in, but we just have to keep believing that one of these chances will drop for us," Sparrow added.
"It's still positive in the dressing room.
"We know Cove and Arbroath both lost again so that keeps things as they are.
"Going off today, playing a team who were third in the league, if we keep believing, I think we will be fine."
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