OF all the criticisms that can be directed at Hamilton Accies, a lack of heart certainly isn't one of them. If the proud survivors of the Premiership are to pull off another great escape, that camaraderie will play a part once again this season.
In terms of raw talent and technical ability, the meeting with Rangers on Sunday should have been a no contest. Come the end of the 90 minutes, there was nothing to separate the sides that are at opposite ends of the Premiership standings.
The two points that Steven Gerrard's side dropped won't prove costly in the title race, but the one earned by Accies could be crucial in their battle to beat the drop as they responded to the blow of defeat to Ross County to become just the fourth team to deny the Light Blues victory on league duty this season.
Brian Rice: Hamilton deserved more than a point from Rangers clash
The result owed much to the effort put in by Brian Rice's players and the belief which the manager has instilled in his squad. As Ross Callachan netted with the last kick of the ball to cancel out Brian Easton's own goal, Accies had their rewards that they had competed so valiantly for.
"The Ross County result was tough to take but we bounced back against Rangers," Callachan, the former Raith, Hearts, St Johnstone and Dundee midfielder said. "That shows massive character.
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"Even on Sunday going 1-0 down, other teams might have dropped their shoulders and conceded again. That never happened. We got right back up, went again and got the goal.
‘The manager talks a lot and gets us going but he can only do so much. The boys need to do it on the park as well. If we don’t take a hold on things on the park then it won’t happen.
"I love the club. It’s the most comfortable I have felt at a club. You feel like it’s family here. I can’t speak highly enough of the club.
"One hundred per cent, it makes you want to fight to keep the club up. They are brilliant with their players.
"Can that spirit make a difference over the run-in? Who knows. Hopefully we can kick on after a good performance on Sunday."
When Hamilton made the trip to Ibrox in November, they found themselves on the end of an 8-0 trouncing. The only positive to take that day was that the scoreboard didn't tick into double digits.
On Sunday, they were unfortunate not to take all three points. There was anger from Gerrard at the performance of his side, but that doesn't take anything away from a fine Accies showing that earned them a deserved share of the spoils.
Callachan said: "I think we were back to our usual selves out there. Hopefully we can take a wee bit of confidence from that and go out on Wednesday and get another good result.
"We have to go one game at a time and the Rangers result is a massive one for us. Hopefully it can give us that wee boost we need, because we are still bottom of the table and we need to get out of it.
READ: Rangers boss Steven Gerrard's 'worst performance of the season' admission after Accies draw
"We can get results if we perform like that. It’s just about having a go.
"We felt like we really had nothing to lose against Rangers and going and having a go is what got us the result in the end.
"Does that have to be the mentality for the rest of the season? Definitely. We are down there and we need to get out of it.
"We need to have a go at teams, try and win the ball in their half, create chances and have shots at goal.
"We hadn’t really been doing that in the last couple of game but the Rangers performance was massive and that has to give us confidence."
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