Hamilton Accies boss mounts Kevin O'Hara defence as he tells fans 'I won't drop him'

Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin insists he will keep the faith with striker Kevin O'Hara.

The former Falkirk forward helped Accies earn a 0-0 draw against his old side last night in a top of the table tussle in League One, as both and Accies drew a blank in front of goal.

O'Hara has netted just once in nine league games and missed a last-minute penalty in a 2-2 draw at Stirling Albion last month.

He has three goals in cup competitions this term, but Saturday's stalemate with Fakirk was another frustrating day in front of goal, with Accies barely troubling Bairns No.1 Sam Long.

O'Hara's lack of league goals may be an issue for some fans, according to Rankin, but he knows the whole package that the 25-year-old brings to the team, so there is no notion of him dropping the player.

With Joe McGlynn netting from the bench in recent weeks, some fans want the Englishman to be given a chance from the start instead.

But Rankin said: "Kev has come in for a bit of a hard time, probably through the supporters with the talk about him going through a dry spell and not scoring goals, with some saying maybe he should come out of the team.

"But I'm not taking Kevin O'Hara out of the team.

"The numbers he returns and the distance that he covers, the pressure and harrassing of defenders he does for us, that's what we need.

"We need players to run through a brick wall for our team and Kev does that.

"That attitude gets a response from the players as well and they love that."

Rankin also praised midfielder Dylan Tait, on loan from Hibs, after he passed up Hamilton's best chance of the match, sending a downward header onto the roof of the net in the first half.

Accies remain joint-top with Falkirk after the result and Rankin added: "I think