HAMILTON defender Michael Devlin last night shouldered responsibility for the defensive mix-ups which led to a costly home defeat to Kilmarnock but said that beating themselves up about it wouldn't do any good in the battle for survival. Only the small matter of goal difference separates Martin Canning's side from their Lanarkshire rivals Motherwell in the Premiership play-off place but the Accies are determined to keep themselves on an even keel as they chase the results they need in the four remaining games of the season to save themselves. First up is the long trip to Inverness on Saturday lunchtime and Devlin said it was a match which they had to win.

“Until you’re mathematically safe, days like these are never behind you," said Devlin after Saturday's disappointment. "We had a good performance when we won at Dundee in our previous game but the manager stressed then that we weren’t out of it.

“We didn’t get too high after that result so we won’t get too low after this one," he added. "We’ll just focus on the next game after working out what went wrong in this one – although I don’t think that will require an in-depth study because it was blindingly obvious.

“The manager also told us in no uncertain terms after the game so we’re in no doubt as to what we need to do. It’s ruined our weekend but we’re all desperate to get back in on Monday morning to put it right. It’s all you can do.”

Devlin refused to pinpoint the 2-0 defeat to Kilmarnock on misfortune, just an inability to deal with deliveries into the box. Conor Sammon knocked in the Ayrshire side's first goal came from a clever corner kick routine, and Jordan Jones rammed in the second after Kris Boyd had beaten Devlin to flick on a long throw.

“I don’t really feel we were unlucky, to be perfectly honest," said Devlin. "In the first half we didn’t defend two balls into our box and they scored twice. The second one is my fault because I don’t win the first header and then they were first to react when it drops and that was disappointing too.

“It’s not about making a statement up in Inverness now, it’s just about going up there and winning the game," he added. "That’s vital because it would put us back on track. That would be a huge step as regards keeping us in the Premiership but it’s now more about results than performances.”