Crucial run faces Accies - Neil

By John Barnes

Neil thinks he will not be fit enough to start the game in Paisley on Saturday

Hamilton Accies captain Alex Neil says the club faces a tough run of matches as it seeks to improve its position in the Scottish Premier League.

Accies have only one league win this season and are currently second-bottom of the table.

Neil has not featured for Accies this season following a hip operation and faces another week on the sidelines.

"Things are getting better on the pitch and the next four games provides a crucial period for us," he said.

The Lanarkshire side were unlucky not to salvage a point from their 2-1 home league defeat by league leaders Celtic on Sunday after recovering from two goals down.

We know we've made mistakes. But, if we keep learning from our mistakes, we'll be fine Hamilton assistant manager Stuart Taylor

Billy Reid's side on Saturday make the trip to St Mirren Park, where they snatched a win towards the end of last season, but Neil will probably not make his return to the starting line-up until the visit of Motherwell the following week.

"The match this weekend at St Mirren might be just a bit too early for me," said the midfielder.

"The best case scenario is the game with Motherwell next week, but even that may be a little bit too early.

"There's nothing worse than watching from the stand, especially at the start of the season when we were having a rough time.

Hamilton assistant manager Stuart Taylor agrees with his skipper about the period ahead and is keen to improve Hamilton's away record.

"The next four weeks are crucial for us," said Taylor.

"We've got St Mirren, Motherwell, Falkirk and St Johnstone and, without putting pressure on ourselves, these are the games we need to win or take points from.

"We go to St Mirren looking for our first away win to get that out of the way.

"It's going to be an entertaining game. St Mirren are firing on all cylinders. They've scored three goals in each of their last three games, so we need to make sure we shut up shop at the back.

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"Every week, we're learning. It's our second season in the SPL.

"We know we've made mistakes. But, if we keep learning from our mistakes, we'll be fine."