Ali Crawford today urged his Hamilton team-mates to be up for the fight from the first whistle after leaving themselves with an uphill battle in the Lanarkshire derby against Motherwell.

The Accies were floored by Louis Moult’s devastating four goal salvo at Fir Park which included a 13-minute hat-trick in the first half as the hosts romped into a 3-0 lead.

Crawford scored two fine goals himself as Accies tried to claw themselves back into the match but Martin Canning’s men left themselves with too much to do.

Having been left reeling by Moult’s triple whammy, Crawford put the finishing touches to a tidy move to give Hamilton hope on 36 minutes.

And the 25-year-old midfielder came within a whisker of reducing the leeway further with half-time looming when his curling free-kick cracked the post.

Crawford said: “It’s hard losing one goal to start with let alone three. We effectively started the game 3-0 down. We were chasing it. The turning point is when my free kick hits the post. If that goes in it’s 3-2, it’s game on. We go in at 3-1, they come out and score straight away which kills our momentum. I’m not saying we’d have got anything out of the game but we weren’t good enough today.”

Moult’s 50th minute penalty gave Motherwell their three goal cushion back just as a galvanised Accies were beginning to sense that they could salvage something from the match.

Crawford grabbed his second with a cracking volley but despite his classy brace, the Accies man couldn’t hide his disappointment at the end result.

He added: “It’s hurting just now because it’s a derby game and you want to do well and take something from it.”

Crawford was at a loss to explain why Hamilton started so sluggishly and the Accies ace is eager to make sure the New Douglas Park side don’t get caught cold again.

He said: “Motherwell started on the front foot and scored early doors. We just didn’t compete. They got to 3-0 and they deserved to be three up. We didn’t start at all. It’s something we need to improve on for next week. We are creating chances though and that’s always a positive. We just need to tidy things up

"It could’ve been a trouncing but we stood up to it and got the next goal and if we got another it could’ve been a different game. You can’t give teams 3-0 starts, though."

Hamilton tried their best and had enough chances to add to their tally during a game they were always chasing.

Accies boss Martin Canning said: "We had a wee slight change in shape and and from there on we were excellent. We had lots of opportunities and how we've only managed to score two goals in that game, I don't know.”