Imrie determined Accies won't miss out on top six finish

A stunning start to the season saw Accies rise to top spot in the Premiership standings last year but they have struggled in recent weeks and head to St Mirren today aiming to end a prolonged winless run.

New boss Martin Canning has yet to record his first triumph since replacing Alex Neil in the dugout and his side are now just four points clear of seventh-placed St Johnstone.

And, when asked if Accies were victims of their own success, striker Imrie said: "That's possible but we're in fifth position and people still need to catch us.

"We set the stall out early on in the season and we've done really well and picked up plenty of points.

"But two points from nine games is not good reading but we're still in a good position. We're not going to grumble where we finish.

"But after the start we gave ourselves, if we don't finish in the top-six it will be a disappointment.

"Especially for a club of this size, with the fan base and probably the smallest budget in the league, to finish in the top-six in the first season back up would be a great achievement.

"We've got five games to achieve that. It's five cup finals in my eyes and this is a good game to start.

"We're going to St Mirren to stop the rot of consecutive defeats."

Hamilton face another out of form side when they make the trip to Paisley this afternoon, with the Buddies currently second bottom of the standings.

And Imrie is determined to add to the Saints' woes as Accies look to bounce back from heavy defeats to Aberdeen and Celtic.

He said: "We've played them twice this season and beaten them pretty comfortably, though that's not to say it'll happen on Saturday.

"We've got to be up for the game, we're on the back of two heavy defeats, but we had spells in those games where we played well.

"Don't get me wrong, it's eight games where we've not picked up many points but we've played well in them.

"We're not getting the rub of the green but hopefully that can change."