Hamilton manager Martin Canning has told his out of contract stars to focus on the club’s future before worrying about their own.
12 first-team squad members are out-of-contract at New Douglas Park in the summer, but Canning hopes that they have all been putting in maximum effort throughout their stay in Lanarkshire, rather than only upping their games as they approach the end of their deals.
With budgets for next season yet to be agreed upon, his focus for now is on ensuring Hamilton’s Premiership survival, with their fate inextricably linked to their ability to offer anything to those players.
“I don’t think the fact you are coming out of contract should be any reason for you to perform better than you would if you had a year left, for example,” he said.
“I know psychologically it can sometimes happen but that is something I don’t like.
“It’s been the same since I was managing the youth teams. Guys who have been there for two years and haven’t done much then, two months before they get released, they start playing like Pele! Those guys are no use to use to you. Regardless of where you are in the league, you are playing for your future.
“The second you stop having that desire and hunger to better yourself you are no use to anybody.
“Contracts are something we will deal with when we need to deal with it. The most important thing just now is the games and that is where we will focus fully. When we are in a position to talk to those boys then we will talk.”
Some of Hamilton’s most established stars are currently free to talk to other clubs about their futures, and Canning admitted he is resigned to losing some of his most valuable assets for no financial return.
“Michael McGovern is going to the Euros and wants to leave his options open,” he said. That’s his decision to do so.
“We had spoken to young Ziggy [Gordon] and like Michael he wants to leave his options open too. Again, he is well within his rights to do so. Apart from those two, I would say we are where we want to be with everyone else.
“The boys who are out of contract know the situation. It’s about making sure we do our job on the pitch.”
Hamilton went into the international break on the back of a disappointing defeat to Partick Thistle that ended their hopes of clawing their way back towards the top-six in time for the split.
Canning has urged his players to use their time off to refresh themselves mentally for the task of now hauling themselves away from the relegation play-off position, although he insists that nobody at the club is contemplating the possibility of the drop.
“It was good for the boys to get some time off over the weekend,” he said.
“It’s more important at this stage of the season to recover mentally than physically. They are as fit as they will ever be right now. But mentally you need to refocus and come back with seven games to go. It’s a mini-season, if you like, and we need to win as many games as we can.
“We haven’t been speaking about relegation – or top six before that. It’s just been a case of going to try and win games and we take each one individually. We try and win as many as we can.
“I haven’t set any targets for the boys. When each game is done, whether it is won, lost or drawn, then it is over. You cannot affect it. The points will either be there or they won’t and the next game becomes the most important. The only target is the next game.”
That next game comes on Sunday, with a visit to Pittodrie to take on an Aberdeen side who surely cannot afford any more slip-ups if they are to trouble Celtic in the chase for the title.
Despite the difference in league position, Canning points to a decent record against Derek McInnes’s side this year when he suggests the game may be closer than many outside observers are predicting.
“Aberdeen have been great this season, very consistent,” he said.
“I think they had a wee dip after a great season but then they have been in great form again.
“It’s difficult to maintain that standard throughout a season and compete against a club the size of Celtic.
“The two games against us have been close. They beat us 1-0 up there with a penalty and then the game here was 1-1. So we know that we are more than capable of going up there and taking something.”
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