HAMILTON manager Martin Canning has praised Inverness for sticking with under-fire manager Richie Foran, but he says that all sympathy for his plight will be out the window on Saturday.
Accies travel to take on the league’s bottom side in desperate need of a win themselves if they are to avoid dropping into the relegation play-off position, or worse.
Three points would go a long way to not only avoiding such a nightmare scenario, but it may very well put the final nail in the coffin for Inverness’s chances of survival.
So, while Canning feels a certain empathy for his colleague, the stakes in the lunchtime showdown mean that all managerial fraternity will be put on hold for 90 minutes at least.
“It seems to be the way in football these days that the first thing you do is move somebody out, bring somebody in and see if you get a reaction,” Canning said.
“But the board up there have stuck with Richie. By all accounts he’s well liked up there.
“He’s a good guy, he’s settled in the area and he’s obviously passionate about the club. That’s their decision, to keep him and his passion with the club.
“Here, we have a similar situation with myself. I have the same desire to do well for Hamilton as he does for Inverness.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll be doing the same as me, putting in all the work to get the results he needs. But we look at our own situation and know that we’ve got to work just as hard to get the win.
“We’re going up there with the full intention of getting all three points. We know what that’s worth at this stage of the season. It’s a huge game, obviously, with the importance of it.
“Three points at this stage of the season become so much more important – and we’ll be giving everything to get them.”
Hamilton’s plight may not yet be as desperate as their hosts, but Canning has dismissed any notion that the Inverness players will be more motivated by their more pressing need for the points.
“I don’t think it makes any difference because every team is in the same boat at the moment,” he said. “For all of us in this half of the table, three points becomes huge. I can’t see how it becomes any more or less important for any one team.
“Six months ago you’d be targeting a game for a win. And, if you didn’t win, it wouldn’t be end of the world. As much as you’d want to win.
“Now, we’re getting to the point where we absolutely need to win games. That’s our focus.”
With that in mind, it is little wonder that Canning insists he will be ruthless with his team selection if he feels that any of his players are not mentally prepared to cope with the pressure of the relegation dogfight.
“You can’t afford that,” he said. “That’s just the way it’s got to be. It’s got to be about everybody being 100-per-cent and bang at it. I’ve been saying that for the last four or five weeks.
“It’s something we’ve done really well of late. We’ve approached the games with eight, nine, 10 players out of 11 at the top of the game, who are really hungry to get a result.
“And that’s the way it’s got to be.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here