MARTIN CANNING misses the chance to complete the set of Scottish football grounds when Hamilton visit Annan in the William Hill Scottish Cup on Saturday.

The Accies player-manager, 34, has appeared at 41 of 42 senior stadiums during his career as a centre-back, which started at Ross County and included a loan period at Peterhead and spells at Gretna and Hibernian.

Ladbrokes League Two side Annan were admitted to the then Scottish Football League in 2008 and Canning has yet to play on Galabank's artificial surface.

But it is a box that will not be ticked this weekend as, for various reasons, his appearances for the New Douglas Park side have been curtailed this season.

"Unless something drastic happens between now and then, I won't be involved," said Canning.

"I have not really trained for the last month after picking up one thing after another, colds and flus, and hamstring problems.

"It might happen at some other time but I don't expect to tick it off this time."

Accies go in to the fourth-round tie buoyed by a 3-3 draw with Lanarkshire rivals Motherwell at Fir Park in which they came back to score a last-gasp leveller.

But the Lanarkshire side have still only won once in 12 games and sit in 10th place in the Ladbrokes Premiership, two points above Kilmarnock.

Canning is hoping a win at Annan can boost their prospects of getting away from the relegation zone

"We have been through a wee run and we need to get back to winning," he said.

"And if we can do that on Saturday hopefully it sets us up for the next league game.

"Our main priority is to make sure that we stay in the league and that doesn't mean that we won't treat the cup properly.

"We will play our strongest team on Saturday and we will go to win the game.

"We know it will be difficult against an Annan team who are doing well in the league.

"If we approach it properly, treat it with the respect it deserves and go and do things right, we hope to have enough on the day to get through the tie."

Annan Athletic have striker Peter Weatherson available after a Scottish FA panel agreed with the appeal against his recent dismissal against Clyde.

Steven Sloan returns but Bryan Gilfillan is out and Steven Swinglehurst is a fitness doubt.

Hamilton meanwhile, have Dougie Imrie suspended and new signing Christopher Mandiangu, the 23-year-old former Germany Under-18 international midfielder who signed until the end of the season, will be joined in the squad by defender Jesus Garcia Tena who missed the Motherwell game last week through illness.

Defender Michael Devlin has recovered from a long-term ankle injury but midfielder Gramoz Kurtaj (hamstring) is unlikely to be involved.