Hamilton Accies Women boss says people must be realistic about SWPL1 progress

Hamilton Accies Women boss Gary Doctor says three defeats in a week have taken their toll on his players, but people need to be realistic about what they can achieve in SWPL1.

Doctor reckons the derby defeat to Motherwell has had a domino effect, resulting in a 7-0 midweek loss to Celtic before Hibs ran out 4-0 winners, with Josi Giard red-carded for added impact.

The Accies gaffer says he’s not making excuses, but has plenty of reasons why they’re going through a difficult spell.

He said: “We’re going through a difficult phase at the moment with injuries and player unavailability – two players have missed games with minor operations – and that has put a wee bit extra strain on the team.

“Ultimately I don’t think people realise how big a gap there is between our team and the likes of Celtic, which is a full-time professional club with international players. We’ve got a lot of young players who are playing their first season in the senior game.

“Even Hibs are moving towards that bracket of signing players from here, there and everywhere. They have professional players, a professional manager and they’ve just appointed a full-time assistant – we don’t have one single person within our club working full-time on anything.

“I just wonder what sometimes people are expecting.

“We want better results, and better performances – absolutely – but it’s really difficult.”

Doctor added: “Not getting the win against Motherwell last week has had a domino effect. If we win that you’re looking at these games in a completely different light.”

Next up for Accies is a trip to third place Rangers on Sunday, and Doctor said: “Any result against these teams doesn’t really define where we sit in the league table, it’s the dropped points in the