“Long may that continue. We need more of them if we want to push on to where we want to be.”

 

Ashton Taylor

“For the goal, Niall has come up with a great bit of play and Sam does what he does and gets on the end of it.

“It was important that we got the three points. It was also pleasing to get the clean sheet which was important as well.

“After last week it was vital to get the win and put in a performance on the back of that and I thought we did that today. We played well and created a lot of chances in the first half and therefore could have had more goals. But we scored at the start of the second half and that was enough. As I say the clean sheet was very important. Long may that continue. We need more of them if we want to push on to where we want to be.

“Joe did not really have a save to make and the whole team shape was quite solid. Hamilton to their credit made it difficult for us at times – they put on two big lads towards the end but as a team we dealt with it.

“Hamilton pushed Celtic all the way recently and they are well set up away from home. They are well drilled and make it hard for you.

“As a defender you are happy enough with a 1-0 win. We used to win a lot of games 1-0, Adam Rooney with the goal when I was here first-time round.

“I have had the joy of playing with Adam and Sam. Both of them have come up with the goods over the years. When the chances are there, more often than not they have put the ball in the back of the net and that is what you want from your striker.

“Sam is young, he is a big lad who puts himself about. And he is scoring goals. So it is not surprising that teams are looking at him. He has been brilliant for us.

“From a personal point of view it is pleasing to be back in the fold and back in amongst the lads. It has been a long road with the injury. My return was delayed after breaking down but it was important that I did things right so I could come back fully fit and then force my way into the side.

“We have another big week coming up. In training we will work on things and then go into the Celtic game with a bit of confidence after the performance and clean sheet today. We need to set up right and put in a good performance. Also the Rangers game, the way we battled back from 2-0 down, we can take confidence from that.

“When you are 2-0 down to anyone and comeback, that instils belief in the dressing room. But when you do it against a side who are doing so well, it helps the belief.

“You are getting judged in the games against Celtic and Rangers. We want to compete with them. So of course you are going to be judged, but we just need to focus on going down there and putting in a performance that we know that we are capable of.

“Yes there is a financial gap but we need to bridge that gap with other things. We are on our way to doing that with the training facilities. We have got a great squad and we have some depth in it now. In these games we have to put in the performances that we are capable of as a team.”