East Kilbride v Hamilton: Accies boss wary of test as he admits injuries could force changes for cup clash

Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin insists they won’t take Lowland League East Kilbride lightly in Saturday’s South Lanarkshire derby.

The sides meet at K-Park for a fourth round tie in the SPFL Trust Trophy, where holders Hamilton will be looking to reach the quarter-final stage in defence of the silverware they won back in March.

East Kilbride are managed by former Darvel boss Mick Kennedy – who caused an upset for the ages in last season’s Scottish Cup when the West of Scotland League outfit knocked out Premiership Aberdeen – and the fifth tier outfit are currently unbeaten at the top of their division.

They have also knocked out League One opposition in the previous two rounds of the Trust Trophy, defeating Stirling Albion and Edinburgh City with 3-0 and 4-1 wins away from home, respectively.

Accies, too, have enjoyed an unbeaten start to their campaign to sit joint-top of League One with Falkirk after nine games, so it is a battle between two in-form teams.

And Rankin says his side will need to be firing on all cylinders at a sold-out K-Park to progress.

He said: “East Kilbride are flying. They’ve got a really good squad and some really good players, so we are looking forward to going there at the weekend for a very testing afternoon.

“It is certainly going to be a good contest.

“They are unbeaten, top of the league and I’ve seen them against Stirling Albion this season.

“They play lovely football at times so it will be a challenge for us.

“I’ve been to K-Park a few times. It is a great club with great infrastructure and they try to do things the right way.

“We met them in the Scottish Cup last season [in a 4-0 win for Accies] so we know what to expect, albeit East Kilbride are probably stronger this season than they