Jonny Hayes has returned from injury and is in the squad that will travel down to Hamilton on Friday. Before heading off he spoke to afc.co.uk:

“For the last few games I had been patching myself up to get through them but unfortunately I was unable to do that for the Dundee match. The fact I missed the Dundee game was maybe a blessing in the long run.
 
“Along with that and the international break it meant I was about to get treatment all week and then was able to build things up this week and I am now feeling fine.

“The physios wanted me to rest more than anything. I did that for 10-12 days, came off it completely and I am feeling ready to go again.
 
“From what I have seen of Hamilton they look every confident and exuberant. They have some good young players. It is to be expected that they will be confident. They won a lot of games at the tail end of last season before beating Hibs to get into the Premiership. It will be a very tough game especially as they are at home on a surface that they are used to.

“We played Falkirk last year on the Astroturf and played really well that night and played Kilmarnock this year and again played well and won so the surface will not hold any fears for us but we will be giving Hamilton the utmost respect. They are a very good side.
 

“All the artificial surfaces are quite different. We have been inside on the Sports Village, we also trained at Forfar last season and then we played on Falkirk’s and we could not believe how good it was. It is the best I have played on in this country. We will see what the Hamilton pitch is like tomorrow night, it will be a fresh challenge for us.
 

“I don’t mind the Friday night football, they have done it in Ireland for years. But I think the games should be between local clubs. It is hard on the fans making them travel that distance.  It makes no difference to the players. It is our job. We get bussed down and stay in a hotel. For the fans though they have to try and get away from work early. For the players a game is a game whether you play on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday! It makes no difference to us. We really do appreciate the support we get from our great fans.”