Hamilton Accies Women face 'tough ask' to avoid play-off now, says boss

Hamilton Accies Women’s boss Robert Watson admits it will be a tough ask to avoid a play-off spot in SWPL1 after Sunday’s narrow defeat to Aberdeen kept them bottom of the table.

Accies led 2-1 at Balmoral Stadium after early strikes from Melissa Reid and Josi Giard, before the hosts mounted a comeback and Kirstie McIntosh saw red for Watson’s side in the 88th minute.

It leaves Accies still level with Dundee United on 10 points at the foot of the table, separated by goal difference, and six points adrift of Spartans who sit in the safety of 10 spot.

Accies host Dundee United tonight ahead of welcoming Spartans on Sunday and then travelling to United on May 1, so there are some potentially pivotal weeks ahead.

And Watson said: “It is going to be a tough ask to avoid the play-off spot [11th], but it is still within our reach in terms of points, and it is also within us in terms of our own control as we have Spartans to play twice.

“It is down to us to go and show we can deliver in these games. The talent is there but we probably haven’t shown it in the key moments.

“We have a really big spell coming up and it is a massive period for all three clubs because we are all within touching distance of each other.

“I’m confident the players can go and do it because we played very well on Sunday.

”I’ve asked the players to go and attack games. We don’t want to wait until there are two or three games left, we want to go for it now and get out of trouble.”

Watson was frustrated by the outcome of Sunday’s game in Aberdeen and felt they should have taken a point for their efforts, but they were hampered by an early injury to goalkeeper Emma Thomson.

He added: “I thought we played very well on Sunday. We deserved a point from the game and even the Aberdeen manager alluded to that. However, the frustration is we haven’t managed that.

“We had to change our goalkeeper at half-time due to an injury and we had to bring on Chloe Nicholson at half-time time, who herself isn’t 100 per cent fit.

“The team were then a bit cautious, knowing the goalkeeper wasn’t 100 per cent and trying to look after her a bit. So we sat a bit deeper than I’d have liked.

“Ultimately, it comes down to being sharp in both boxes. We had a chance to go 3-2 up just before they went 3-2 up and that has been the story of close games for us this season.

“These fine-margin moments are where we need to do better. We need to pull together and make sure we come out on the right side of these moments in the next few games.”

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