Hamilton manager Martin Canning is hoping to hear today that his club’s appeal against the red card shown to Giannis Skondras at the weekend has been successful.

The defender was shown a straight red by referee Steven McLean for a foul on Ross County’s Ryan Dow, but even visiting manager Jim McIntyre felt the decision was harsh.

Accies boss Canning agreed, and he hopes that the apparent consensus over the unfair nature of the dismissal will win the day.

“Having watched it back again I don’t think it’s a red card,” Canning said. “I think he’s slipped while trying to make an honest attempt to get the ball. He’s on the ground and their player’s nicked the ball over him.

“It’s all looked a bit exaggerated because the speed of their player and obviously Giannis coming across.

“But there was absolutely no intent or endangerment to the player, so we’re hopeful of it being overturned.

“Ninety-eight percent of the people I’ve spoken to thought it was a red at the time but then watched it back and thought differently.

“I don’t think it was the right decision, so hopefully others will see that too.”

Having Skondras available would be a massive boost for Canning as Accies travel to freefalling Dundee on Saturday in search of their first away victory of the season.

With Paul Hartley’s men having lost six on the bounce, and getting dragged deeper into the relegation mire as a result, there would be no better occasion for Hamilton to break their duck on their travels.

“It would be a great time to get an away win,” Canning said. “I spoke to the players about that before training yesterday.

“We shouldn’t be in the position where we haven’t won a game away from home all season.

“I think we’ve played reasonably well on the road at times, picking up a lot of draws. But we should definitely have won a game by now.

“We need to make sure we pick up points both home and away with six games left.

“If you can, you want to pile the pressure on the home team. The plan will be start on the front foot.

“But I remember Dundee were under pressure the last time they came here. They’d lost a run of games and were bottom of the league by five or six points. Yet they beat us 1-0 and proceeded to go on a run, winning three in a row.

“That’s how tight this league can be.You can’t look at any team and think just because they’ve been on a poor run or seemingly struggling then it’s going to be a great chance.

“Every game’s different, regardless of opposition form. It’s up to us to do our jobs.”