Martin Canning has admitted that he only has eyes for Hamilton Accies as he continues to mould his team in the club’s own vision.

The 36-year-old’s endeavours over the last few weeks were rewarded with the Ladbrokes Manager of the Month award and he is looking to continue the profitable and purposeful run against St Johnstone this weekend.

Like all managers, Canning would like to clamber the ladder but having established himself on the perilous rungs of a fickle business, the Accies boss continues to revel in a fruitful partnership with Hamilton.

He said: “Every manager has ambitions but at the minute this is the perfect match.

“It’s a great place to work. It’s a great club with fantastic people and a great bunch of boys who work extremely hard.

“I’ve been here for nearly ten years and I have a big affinity with the club. I enjoy working and I come to work with a smile on my face.

"Realism is the biggest thing here. Those behind the club understand the job that’s done here. They know what they want to do and having that ethos is huge.

“It’s not a club that’s wanting to try to finish fifth one season just to say they finished fifth. They want to bring young players through their system into their first team.

“They want to try to promote from within. Everyone wants to be in the Premiership and as high up it as they can be.

“But their vision is set and it’s up to me and the guys here to make it run the way they want it to. Some clubs maybe don’t have that same vision and understanding.

"He added: There will be spells when you don’t do as well as you’d like to. Every club and manager will go through that. Everybody will have their critics and at times they have their say because they’re passionate fans and they want to be the best and to win every week. But a large majority when you speak to them are very supportive.”

It’s been an eventful few weeks for the Accies. There was a feisty affair with Hearts which ended in heated touchline clashes and police intervention while a war of words developed during a draw with Hibernian when Neil Lennon lambasted the Lanarkshire side’s “caveman” approach.

Canning said: “The last two games have been strange and in three years doing this job I don’t think there’s been any real controversy in the matches.

"The last two weeks have been different whether it was the words after the Hibs match or the game itself against Hearts. It would be good to get back to a normal game of football this week and hopefully the football takes the plaudits.

“We’ve always battled away and haven’t changed that approach. We’ve got a good team at the minute and getting everyone fit and Ali Crawford’s return will make us stronger.

“We can compete with these teams now on a level playing field and this Saturday will be the same against a good St Johnstone side.

“We’re working hard on the mentality so that we’re not raising our game to play against Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Hibs or Aberdeen.

“With the quality of the players we’ve got in the squad there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be approaching these games looking to win."