Hamilton Accies' pre-season turbulence was 'blocked out' says midfield ace

Scott Martin says Hamilton have had to ‘block out all the noise’ of a turbulent pre-season, but their hard work paid off with a convincing 3-0 friendly win over Larne.

The combative midfielder played in the first half against the Northern Irish Premiership side and scored the first in a comfortable victory at New Douglas Park, with Andy Ryan and Adam McGowan adding further strikes.

Accies’ squad have had to return to pre-season amid uncertainty, as the club yesterday officially parted company with head coach Stuart Taylor, over a month since rumours began circle about his future.

John Rankin took the team yesterday, and is one of the favourites to take over.

But Martin, 25, says Hamilton have simply knuckled down and enjoyed their win.

He said: “It’s just pre-season. In football changes happen, things are the way they are.

“In terms of us, as a group of boys, we’ve been professional, worked our socks off in training, and that’s all we can do.

“It showed on the pitch against a good side that we are all together, and all that noise is blocked out.

“We came in a week earlier, we’ve all knuckled down and got the work done, and I think it showed on the pitch.

“We looked really fit, compared to a team that’s maybe on the same level as us, in terms of being in pre-season and things like that, so it’s a confidence booster.”

Hamilton played two teams over the 90 minutes, 45 in each half, with Martin’s goal sending Accies into the interval 1-0 up.

Ryan and McGowan scored in the second half to clinch the win.

Martin said: “It was a good 45 minutes for the boys. Both sides showed that they wanted to play football, pass the ball, and do the right things, so it was a good work-out.

“They were a great set-up to play against and we