EVER since Barcelona coined the phrase ‘mes que un club’, many others have adopted the slogan with varying degrees of validity.

For Hamilton’s Lucas Tagliapietra though, the Accies are definitely more than a club - they are his second family.

Currently enjoying a visit from his Brazilian relatives, the amiable defender admits that his team-mates have been a great help as he adapts to the Scottish way of life.

“I feel at home. Everyone is friendly here,” he said.

“It’s not just a football club, we are a family. It’s a pleasure to work here.

“The gaffer knows how to carry the group and honestly it’s been great to work here.

“The only thing is there are some players that I can’t understand, it’s like they are speaking Russian!

“It’s difficult for me, so I just ask them to speak slowly. Darian MacKinnon is one, I have to tell him to slow down because I can’t understand him!

“I’ve been abroad for five years and just go home for vacations.

“It’s a different life of course, Brazil is huge.

“Everybody asks me ‘how is Brazil?’, but I was saying to my brother yesterday that we can’t really describe it.

“In Brazil we have 26 states, and every state has different traditions and culture.

“You can describe Scotland, but my region is Brazil is bigger than Scotland!

“I lived near to Argentina and Uruguay. It’s a country region so everything is different.

“In a lot of places in Brazil you have the sun all year and it’s always summer, but in my hometown it can be very cold in the winter, we do get four seasons.

“My family is here, they just arrived on Tuesday and I was telling them to enjoy the weather today, because this is not typical, it’s normally always raining!

“My mum Claudete, my girlfriend Andressa and my brother Thiago are all here, and I’m so happy.

“I don’t think the Scottish players know how hard it is for me to be away from home.

“It’s really difficult sometimes if you have a bad day and you’re just at home by yourself.

“I’m very happy they are here for me, and they are enjoying it.

“They’re here for three weeks, and I can show them what my life is like here.

“Hopefully I can introduce them to my other family!”

After a thumping win over Dundee United last weekend, Lucas says that Hamilton are ready to show their critics they are too good for relegation.

“It was fantastic, a great game,” he said.

“Unfortunately we hadn’t won in the first couple of games, but the victory was coming.

“We know our quality. We don’t care what other people say.

“Every game is a war, it’s 11 versus 11, and we out in the effort and we have the quality to win games.

“Rumours are just rumours, we don’t listen to them. We just get on with it.

“I think that on Saturday we showed what kind of group we are. Hopefully we can keep doing that.”