St Johnstone loanee Connor Smith getting back to his best as he insists he's claiming Accies brace in Airdrie thrashing

Hamilton Accies ace Connor Smith showed he is getting back to his best with a goal and an assist in a thumping win over derby rivals Airdrie.

But the St Johnstone loanee insists he will be claiming for a brace after one of his strikes was credited as a Sam Graham own goal.

The midfielder helped Accies blow their Lanarkshire rivals away early on in a 4-0 triumph, firing in the opener after just two minutes and then seeing a strike deflect in off Graham with just nine minutes on the clock.

Kevin O'Hara made it 3-0 with a close range effort early in the second half before Smith turned provider for the fourth, swinging in a free-kick for Dylan McGowan to nod home at the back post and deliver Hamilton's first back-to-back wins of the season.

Smith said: "We scored within two minutes and then I was there at the right time for the second one as well.

"I'm not sure if it is my goal or an own goal but I will be trying to claim it as much as I can! It was a shot, but I don't know if it was on target ot not. I'll definitely try to claim it.

"I don't care how it goes in. I'm happy. We've won 4-0, with a clean sheet.

"I am here to try and get goals and assists and I've managed to do both, with an assist for big Dylan at the end.

"The boys are buzzing. That's two wins in a row - it has not happened all season - and the gaffer was on about that before the game, to make sure we went and did that to make the fans happy."

His boss John Rankin added: “Connor is getting back to his best.

“We’ve had to get him motoring because of the lack of game time he’s had[at St Johnstone]. We’ve had to persevere with him and I can see him getting back to what I know he can do.

“He makes good forward runs, he gets balls into the box, he takes people on,