HAMILTON playmaker Ali Crawford is fired up to prove their many doubters wrong, but admits that they will have to be more clinical than they were against 10-man Partick Thistle on Saturday if they are to maintain their place in Scotland’s top flight.

“Everyone wrote us off last year and we went out and proved them wrong, so we just need to go and do the same again this season,” he said.

“It gives us a good incentive when everyone seems to think we are certain to be relegated. We are the underdogs immediately and that takes the pressure off us to allow us to go and do our stuff on the pitch.

“The match was really frustrating, especially since we had so many chances to score. It’s just one of those things.

“We need to take the positives from it. We completely dominated the game – even when they had 11 men.

“We need to take that forward into the game next week and look to get the three points.”

On a day when Christian Nade showed that he may well prove a handful for Premiership defences this season, it was Crawford who had and created the best chances for Hamilton, being denied by a miraculous Cerny save in the second-half, and blowing a golden opportunity just before half-time that he dragged wide of the target.

‘‘It was a great save, but we all know Tomas Cerny can do that,” Crawford said.

“He pulled of saves like that for us on a regular basis. So I will just need to take it on the chin, because it was a top save.

“But I should have scored with the chance I had in the first half. That was a sitter for me.

“I don’t know what happened. I should have hit the target and, in the end, it probably cost us the three points.”