BILLY REID has urged his stand-in stars to make the most of their big chance when Hamilton face Dumbarton in a fourth-round Scottish Cup tie tonight.

Accies head into the Sons clash on the back of a 1-1 draw with Irn-Bru First Division title challengers Dunfermline, but the New Douglas Park boss will be without defender Jonathan Page and fellow loan stars Gary Fisher and Stevie May.

When asked about these squad concerns, Reid said: "They are going to be huge losses, the three of them played really well on Saturday and they will be missed.

"But it gives other players the opportunity to come in and hopefully do the business for us.

"That has been the problem. We had the league game coming up, and we had a team in mind that we were going to play, and then the cup game changes that.

"These are things are forced upon us, but the good thing for me is that it gives people a chance to come in and play.

"Everybody wants to play in the squad."