HAMILTON Academical manager Billy Reid is convinced his players' hunger to prove themselves in the Premier League will make them competitive this season.
The Lanarkshire club will be reacquainted with top-flight football following a 19-year absence when they host Dundee United tonight.
Reid will let loose on the SPL young talents such as 17-year-old James McCarthy and his midfield colleague James M
cArthur, 20, and is confident they will have the determination to complement their ability.
Hamilton will unfurl the Irn-Bru First Division title flag before their opening game at New Douglas Park, where the summer refurbishment programme has included a new grass pitch to replace their artificial surface. And while most of his players are untried in the SPL, Reid is certain they have the ambition to prove they are the genuine article.
The Hamilton manager, whose team finished seven points above much-fancied Dundee last season, said: "We are going to attempt to carry that winning habit on. It's a different level of football and we will probably take a few hits on the way. But one thing is for sure, there will be no lack of trying. I have a hungry group of boys with a point to prove."
Hamilton carried the winning habit into the summer, stealing the show at Hartlepool United's centenary tournament. Accies beat Huddersfield and a Sunderland line-up including former SPL players Ross Wallace and Russell Anderson to clinch more silverware. Their performances, including those of player of the tournament McCarthy, raised eyebrows in the north east of England.
But Reid said: "It didn't surprise me, I know what I have got at this football club. There is some exceptional talent."
Meanwhile, Dundee United striker Warren Feeney will make his debut tonight and insists life in the SPL will be every bit as good as the Coca-Cola Championship. The Northern Ireland international, who is on loan from Cardiff, is expected to start alongside fellow new boy Roy O'Donovan.
Feeney opted to join United after failing to make the breakthrough at Ninian Park.
He said: "Scottish football is a high standard, there's no question about that.
The SPL has improved steadily and, for me, it's every bit as good as the Championship."
The full article contains 383 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
