It’s rare for anyone with affection for Motherwell to do Lanarkshire rivals Hamilton Accies a turn, but the arrival of Remi Matthews at the club owes a lot to a man who made his name between the sticks at Fir Park.

Former England keeper John Ruddy is a teammate of young stopper Matthews at Norwich City, and he sold the 22-year-old on taking the chance of first-team football in Scotland.

Hamilton’s new number one is subsequently loving life under Martin Canning, and he hopes he can tread the well-worn path between keeping goal in the Scottish top-flight to first-team football in England.

First and foremost though, his target is to help Accies stay in the Premiership, and a result against Inverness at home today would certainly help their cause.

“John Ruddy’s career started here and he was definitely one who gave me the heads up to come up here and enjoy playing my football,” Matthews said.

“There’s Darren Randolph, big Fraser Forster, Julian Speroni even. Think of the keepers who have been up here first - it’s definitely a positive for me. I wanted to come to a club where I could play games and be my best and that’s my focus from this moment on.

“It shows people are not just going to come up here for a jolly. It’s serious football up here and with Rangers back in the top flight the profile of the league is as high as it has been for a while. People forget that. Anywhere you go, everyone wants to win.

“At the age of 22 I need to play as many games as I can. As a keeper you need to keep playing games, no matter the level or game, it’s about racking up games and in the long run I want to go back and push for the number one place at Norwich, however long that may take. That’s the main objective.

“I want to play as many games as I can here and help us stay in the league. We’re trying to win every game, we’re not just here to take part. We want to finish as high in the league as we can.”

For perhaps an even more pertinent example of what can be achieved from performing well at the Superseal Stadium, Matthews need only glance at the current number one at Carrow Road.

Michael McGovern was snapped up in the summer by former Accies boss Alex Neil after running down his contract at Hamilton, and he is currently starring for the Canaries on a weekly basis.

“I don’t know Michael, but we’ve spoken via Twitter and I’ve heard from the lads here how much of a good guy he is,” said Matthews.

“Again, I wish him all the best - he has gone into the team and done well. Fair play to him, it proves it doesn’t matter what age you are or where your career has come to, you’ll always have a chance to make things happen.

“He was one of the better keepers up here and he has proved if you work hard and play well - he did so well in the Euros - chances can come.”