BRIAN RICE aims to be Hamilton's "12th man" against Motherwell as he prepares to return to the dugout.
The Hamilton head coach has served his five-match touchline ban for betting offences ahead of Saturday's Lanarkshire derby at the Foys Stadium.
"I feel as though I'm the 12th man when I'm out there," Rice said. "I feel part of it. I want the boys to see me when they look across and hear me encouraging them and getting into them."
Hamilton's run without a victory stretched to seven matches during Rice's ban.
"It's been a difficult situation but it's past now so I am back down in amongst it with the boys," he said.
"It's frustrating all the time, it doesn't matter where you are - side of the pitch, up in the stands. But I think it's important I am down there. It's the place I belong."
While Rice is returning closer to the action, a number of his players will be missing with defenders Aaron McGowan and Sam Woods both picking up injuries in the past week.
The former Hibernian midfielder believes Scottish football must reduce the burden on players after his side played eight games in 28 days after the winter break.
Rice, whose team won at Fir Park on December 29, said: "If you look at the team that started against Motherwell and who we have now, we are decimated.
"It's a tough time of year. There are far too many games in a short period of time for a club like ourselves.
"Right this minute in time, I don't know who's going to be fit and who's not going to be fit. We will need to see who comes through training and there are quite a few long-term injuries.
"There's a lot of games and it's very expensive for fans. (St Mirren manager) Jim Goodwin made a very good point the other day: how can we not move towards summer football in some shape or form?
"I don't mean exactly copy what they do in Ireland but it's got to come some time.
"We need to look after the fans. I feel for the fans at this time of year, we get by Christmas and New Year, which is always a hard time for people money wise, and then we give them seven or eight games in February.
"I appreciate it's really difficult for the people who compile the fixtures with the amount of cup games, European games, but the proof is in the pudding with the amount of injuries teams are getting. People's bodies are breaking down.
"We keep talking about sports science and looking after people and proper recovery. It's not happening. It can't happen with the amount of games we are playing."
Meanwhile, Rice was delighted to see Jamie Hamilton's third red card of the season rescinded.
The defender will miss Saturday's game because of a prior sending off but has avoided a three-match ban following his red card against Hearts.
"I'm delighted for the boy because in my opinion it was a very harsh sending off," Rice said. "I'm delighted we got a wee bit of luck for once. The kid was distraught. He is 17. It's his first season."
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