Hamilton Acciess boss has confidence in squad for Cove Rangers clash amid suspension headache

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin is confident his squad will cope with the injury and suspension headaches facing his side for Saturday's Championship clash with Cove Rangers.Rock bottom Accies welcome eighth place Cove knowing a win would see them move off the foot of the table and leapfrog their opponents.But they will need to do so without two, potentially three, key players.Defender Dan O'Reilly has been handed a two-game ban following his red card at Arbroath last weekend, while defensive midfielder Scott Martin serves a one-game suspension after picking up six bookings so far this term.To add to that, first choice goalkeeper Ryan Fulton remains a doubt having pulled out in the warm-up at Arbroath to be replaced by 20-year-old Jamie Smith.Rankin groaned: "Sometimes these things are sent to try us."Scotty has his ban, but we knew that was coming up anyway.

Dan was sent off on Saturday and whether we think it is a red or not is irrelevant because the video is inconclusive so we just need to deal with it."So it's a case of putting square pegs in round holes to fill those gaps."It's a challenge but it is one we are prepared for and one we need to make sure we have the right organisation for."I wouldn't say it is a worry.

The way footballers are educated they should know each other's jobs inside out and whoever is asked to play there on Saturday should know what we are asking Dan to do from week to week, so it shouldn't be a surprise to them."It might be a surprise to find themselves in a different area of the pitch than normal and a wee bit out of their comfort zone, but they need to stand up and be counted for the team."I'm comfortable with the boys who will be on the pitch on Saturday and we just need to be ready for