Rice thinks Hamilton deserved their late reward against Dundee

Posted Sunday, February 03, 2019 by PA

Hamilton boss Brian Rice praised his side’s positive attitude as they fought back to earn a point against fellow Ladbrokes Premiership strugglers Dundee.

The Lanarkshire side had trailed for a good period of an engrossing game after Scott Wright’s classy opener, but salvaged a point from a 1-1 draw thanks to Darian MacKinnon’s emphatic side-footed finish.

And Rice, who was making his managerial debut, praised his side’s attacking mindset that ended a five-game losing run.

He said: “My players deserve it. I’ve only had them for one day.

“I said to them before the game that there would be no excuses because I think that’s a sign of weakness. Whatever happens happens and we don’t make excuses for it.

“There were chances at both ends, with both teams trying to win the game. I thought we started the game well and then Dundee came into it and had a couple of chances.

“We were a little bit nervous in the second half and Dundee capitalised on that and got the goal.

“We made positive substitutions to try and get the game back. I’m not going to settle for losing a game 1-0, I’m always looking to win the game if possible and when possible and I think the substitutions gave us a fresh impetus.

“I asked them to be positive and send the fans home happy tonight and I think we did that.”

Dundee boss Jim McIntyre was understandly less pleased as his side surrendered an advantage which would have seen them leapfrog their opponents and move out of the bottom two.

He explained: “Any time you concede that late is a real sickener.

“We got too deep in that last 15 minutes and we didn’t keep the ball well enough in attack.

“When you’re in that winning position so late in the game then it’s a sore one to take.”

However, McIntyre was able to take positives from the performance at New Douglas Park.

He added: “I was really pleased with a lot of our new players, we’ve picked up another point and we’ve not lost any ground on Hamilton – so there are things to be pleased about.

“It was an excellent goal from Scott. He showed really good composure and awareness by not taking the shot on first time. I thought he was pivotal to our threat today.”