Hamilton attacker Dougie Imrie has defended his side’s approach to Saturday’s draw against Hibs after visiting manager Neil Lennon called the Lanarkshire side cavemen.

Easter Road midfielder Marvin Bartley also had a pop at Accies, saying he hadn’t witnessed such a physical approach since his days playing rugby at school.

But Imrie was unapologetic after the match, where an opportunistic Antonio Rojano goal cancelled out Simon Murray’s opener for Hibs, and earned Hamilton a point they scarcely deserved on the run of play.

“That’s [Neil Lennon]’s opinion,” said Imrie. “You know you are in a game against us. We don’t give teams a minute to try and play.

“All credit to Hibs in the first half, they did well and passed the ball, but I thought in the second half when we changed the shape and went man for man the game changed in our favour.

“That’s Neil Lennon’s opinion of the game, but for me, when we matched them in the second half we stopped them playing and deservedly got the equaliser.

“It probably wasn’t one of our best performances, but over the piece, I think we deserved a point.

“There were a few niggly tackles in the game, but I think against these types of teams you have to be up tight against your man.

“If you allow teams like that to play, they’ll kill you.”

Imrie denied that Hamilton’s tactics had crossed a line, and he felt that referee Don Robertson – who was also criticised by the Hibs camp – handled the game well.

“I don’t think we’re over-physical, we just go out to play the game,” he said.

“Managers or players are allowed their opinion, but I just think that first half we weren’t at the races, and in the second half we were much better and were tighter to our men, and that was the difference.

“We changed our shape because Hibs were getting too much time on the ball. From that point of view, we allowed them far too much time and their movement in the first half was good.

“The shape wasn’t great for us, because they had a spare man in the middle of the park and they were killing us with their movement.

“In the second half you saw the difference, they never really got much time on the ball, and we were up against them all over the park and made it difficult for them.

“Don’t get me wrong, they had good chances in the game and they’re probably thinking it was two points dropped for them, and that’s maybe why they are a little disappointed in the result and are looking at other avenues as to why they didn’t win the game, and are saying that we were over-aggressive.

“For me, it was the change of shape that nullified their threats more and allowed us to get back into the game.”

Hamilton are now five games unbeaten, with draws against Aberdeen and Hibs as well as a win over Rangers in their last three.

Imrie believes that there is a new-found resolve about his side, and that was proven by the way they dug in to take something from a game that he admits they were second-best in.

“In the past that’s probably a game we lose, but at the moment we are sticking together and picking up points that in another season we would have lost,” he said.

“It was the same against Aberdeen, and the moment we’ve got momentum and are picking up points.”