Hamilton Accies' display was 'absolutely disgusting' blasts boss John Rankin after narrow win over young Edinburgh City side

Raging Hamilton boss John Rankin branded his side's display "absolutely disgusting" after they scraped a win against rock-bottom Edinburgh City.

Ayr loanee Akheem Rose struck just before half-time to earn all three points and bag his sixth goal in his last five games.

But after second-place Accies ended a three-game winless run at home, Rankin was fuming with his side's showing against a young City side who have picked up just five points all season.

He said: "That was absolutely disgusting. I didn't like the performance one bit.

"I didn't enjoy the afternoon. Usually, I enjoy watching us play but what I will say is we have played a million times better this season and lost.

"They have a lot of young boys on loan from different clubs and they have the opportunity to play their game with no fear whatsoever.

"There was no weight on their shoulders, but we looked like we had the weight of the world on ours.

"I didn't have to say too much in the changing room. The silence said it all because it felt like a defeat in there.

"It was a hard-fought 1-0 win."

Ben Williamson struck the post in 27 minutes with a fine strike from distance and although Reghan Tumilty fired the rebound towards goal, City keeper Ruairidh Adams made a great save on the line to deny him.

Accies huffed and puffed after that until the 43rd minute when Tumilty whipped the ball into the near post and Rose fired a low strike into the net.

The hosts posed little threat in the second half and survived a big scare late on when Alieu Faye pounced on a miscommunication at the back but was denied by a good stop from Dean Lyness.

Rankin did take some positives from the game after claiming a third clean sheet on the bounce.

He added: "I spoke to the players a few