ALI Crawford insists Hamilton are ready for the other half of Tayside after helping the Accies hammer Dundee.
The 25-year-old midfielder scored the last goal in a 4-0 home win on Saturday to set up a Ladbrokes Premiership play-off clash with Dundee United.
The Lanarkshire side started the last league game of the season one point above bottom side Inverness but showed no sign of nerves as they led at the interval through goals by striker Rakish Bingham and defender Ioannis Skondras, his first for the club since signing in January.
Winger Dougie Imrie scored from the spot in the 56th minute and Crawford drove in a fourth to secure Hamilton’s biggest victory of the season.
Martin Canning’s side will go to Tannadice on Thursday night before the home game next Sunday, with their win having condemned Inverness to the Championship.
And while United are confident after coming through play-off ties against Morton and Falkirk, Crawford said: “Being a Premiership team, you’re always going to have a bit stronger squad.
“They are where they are — if they were strong enough they would still be in the Premiership.
“If we play the way we did on Saturday, get a positive result up there then hopefully we can bring them here on Sunday and finish the job.
“We had to win to make sure we were still in the league, which we did comfortably.
“And we’ve produced a good performance to take into Thursday night as well, it gives us a bit of momentum.
“So hopefully we can do the business and be in the Premiership next season.
“Throughout the season when we’ve gone a goal up, we’ve not scored the second or the third to kill the game. We did against Dundee and that was pleasing.”
Dundee’s interim boss Neil McCann was left with plenty to think about following his second successive defeat.
The former Dens Park winger, a Sky Sports pundit before he came in with five games remaining to try to keep the Taysiders in the league, was “embarrassed” by the performance.
Two wins and a draw secured safety but a 2-0 home defeat to Inverness last Wednesday was coupled with a dismal display at Hamilton.
McCann will speak to Sky and Dundee about his future in the coming weeks but stressed that doing both jobs was not feasible.
“No, absolutely not,” said the former Rangers, Hearts and Scotland player. “You just couldn’t do that.
“The overriding feeling at the moment is disappointment.
“Maybe I will look back in a couple of weeks or days and think I have done a job but that defeat doesn’t feel good.”
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