Rice insists Hamilton won't curb attacking instincts

Brian Rice insists Hamilton will “go down swinging” if they have to after vowing to stick with his two-pronged attack.

The Accies boss has predominantly lined up with a front two this season and even started with both Bruce Anderson and Marios Ogkmpoe up top against Steven Gerrard’s rampant Rangers last Sunday.

The bold ploy very nearly paid off, with the Lanarkshire side dominating the unbeaten Premiership leaders before snatching a 1-1 draw with the last kick of the game.

However, with Accies rooted to the bottom of the table, some critics feel it would be better if Rice took a more safety-first approach.

But the Hamilton manager does not want his team to die wondering.

He said: “We need to go down swinging. That’s always been the approach since I came into the job. Have a go.

“I think I’ve maybe played only one game with one striker. The rest of the time it’s been two.

“And teams who play with two strikers need to have a go.

“The game is about scoring goals and winning matches. I don’t like to use the word philosophy, but my idea on football is that it’s easier to score with two strikers than it is with one.

“So that’s how we set up. We set up to attack and to have a go.

“Now in times we’ll be forced back because of the quality of the opposition, but we’ll always be set up to have a go.

“We went to Parkhead, we got to Ibrox, we got to Aberdeen and Easter Road, we’ll go every place with two up because we want to try to score goals. It’s as simple as that and I won’t change.”

Rice was hoping to build on last week’s Gers point against Livingston, only to see Wednesday’s clash at the Tony Macaroni Arena called off due to snow.

But Saturday’s Lanarkshire derby with Motherwell at Fir Park offers another big chance to close the three-point gap separating them from Ross County, especially if the Staggies’ showdown with Hibernian falls victim to the wintry conditions in Dingwall.

“Wednesday night’s game being off was a major disappointment because I could feel a bit of excitement building and I thought, ‘Let’s get going here’,” he said.

“But Saturday is now a derby match and we’ll go in confident.

“We’ve won that last two, but that’s now history. We’ve had the upper hand the last two or three games against Motherwell, but it’s what happens on the day that counts.

“We can’t affect what happens elsewhere but the incentive is to catch the team above us. Then we’ll take it from there.”