Hamilton Accies must leave nothing on the park against Alloa or we're sunk, says defender

Fergus Owens has warned his Hamilton Accies team-mates to leave absolutely everything on the pitch against Alloa today as they fight for Championship survival.

Accies are 1-0 down to League One Alloa Athletic in the first leg of their semi-final, after Luke Donnelly’s strike in first-half stoppage time, going into this afternoon’s New Douglas Park showdown.

Owens is well aware of what relegation means to staff and players at Hamilton Accies, but says, quite simply, they don’t want to be playing in League One next season.

The 19-year-old from East Kilbride said: “We are well aware that if we lose this game we’re in League One – jobs are on the line.

“We know how big a game it is, the magnitude of the game, and we can’t leave anything on the pitch on Saturday.

“We know how big an occasion this is – we’re fighting for our lives, here.

“We don’t want to be playing in League One, we want to be playing at the highest level that we can, which hopefully will be in the Championship next season.

“Dropping down wouldn’t be good, or look good, for any of the boys, but the main thing is to stay in the Champions nhip, and hopefully we can do that.

“We’ll take it a game at a time and focus on Saturday – we won’t think about anything else, like the final, which is just as big a game if we make it."

Hamilton had chances to score against Alloa at the Indodrill on Tuesday but Owens admits they seemed lethargic against the Wasps, and were stung as a result.

He knows a huge improvement is needed this afternoon, not just on Tuesday’s performance, but this season overall.

Owens said: “Hopefully on Saturday we’re all ready to go, and we can give it our all.

“It’s a massive game for us, obviously, so hopefully we can make it to the final.

“We’ve