Hamilton Accies must put on war paint and go into battle against Arbroath, urges boss

John Rankin says Hamilton Accies have to put on war paint and go into battle against Arbroath on Friday, but told his players to RELAX at Gayfield Park.

Rankin says the players have livelihoods and professional pride at stake as only a win at Arbroath gives them a chance to clinch the relegation play-off slot and rescue their Championship status – though that also relies on Morton beating rivals Cove Rangers.

Sitting a point behind Cove at the bottom of the table, Rankin says everybody knows their jobs, but being uptight isn't going to help.

“We know exactly what we need to do,” he said. “I’ve said for a while it’s not where we want to be, but it’s quite clear what we need to do. We need to go to Arbroath and get three points.

“The players are aware of that, we’re aware of that, everybody around the club is aware of that, so it has all built up over the last two weeks to gear towards that.

“The players need to relax. I think that’s important. If we go up there and we’re upright and forget to play, and work, then we have an issue.

“I don’t think Friday has any real bearing on that. We always knew we had to go to Arbroath and win anyway, so it’s the exact same scenario.

“Everybody knows what’s at stake. Let’s be honest, there are livelihoods and jobs at stake, there’s lots at stake – there’s professional pride at stake, that’s the one for the players.

“We have to go on Friday night and try to get three points from the game. We have to do whatever we can to do that.

“We need to roll our sleeves up, put the war paint on, go into battle on Friday night, and hopefully come out on top.”

Rankin says conceding a last-gasp equaliser against Partick Thistle a fortnight ago was a killer – but the players need to learn from it.

“When