Martin Canning has rubbished suggestions that Hamilton lack ambition, after it was suggested that their supporters are staying away because of the club’s aim of just staying in the Premiership.

There were only around 800 Accies fans in attendance at the Superseal Stadium on Wednesday night as Aberdeen sent the home side out of the Betfred Cup.

Despite aggressive pricing initiatives, crowds at league matches have also been consistently low, but Canning says that is simply down the size of the club.

And he pointed to the fact that he tried to bring former Hamilton favourite Tony Andreu back to the club this summer as an indication of his own goals for this season.

“That’s completely wrong [to say we lack ambition] – we’re not just trying to stay in the division – if I told you some of the names we’re trying to bring here you’d probably laugh at me,” Canning said.

“We’ve tried for everybody that’s gone elsewhere up here because we want the very best players we can get.

“Unfortunately, there’s a pecking order when it comes to these things. For example, this season we tried to bring Tony Andreu back from Norwich but his preference is to stay in England or go to France.

“We’re trying to sign good players on loan from Premier League clubs in England but, for one reason or another, that hasn’t come off so far. We’ve also tried to sign players from Scottish clubs.

“However, the fit has to be right for both parties. If we could use our young players then we would but, if not, we’ll definitely try to sign someone from the top league down south.

“We had success with Remi Matthews and Carlton Morris in recent seasons. We’ve tried to bring more in and we’ll keep on trying.

“Ronnie McDonald and Les Gray are working hard to make things happen behind the scenes.

“We’re not saying we’re poor little Hamilton and asking people to feel sorry for us. This is a club which offers young players the opportunity to play first-team football at a good level for a club which tries to play in the right manner.”

Canning says that his attempts to strengthen his squad have been hampered by a need to decipher which players are simply considering their options, and those who see Accies as a last resort.

“The issue you’ve got when you’re a small club is that you probably aren’t first choice for your targets,” he said.

“They might think they can still go to the English Championship or one of the top clubs in Scotland.

“But if you want to get the guys you believe can make the difference then you need to be patient.

“I could pick up the phone and sign two strikers but they might not be two who can make a difference.

“Everyone’s got a level they want to play at and we have to understand that. And the owners here are good because they will pull the plug if a player has little interest in coming here.

“I don’t want people who don’t want to be here but it’s football and not every player we approach says ‘Brilliant, Hamilton Accies’.”