St Mirren 0 - 1 Hamilton: McCarthy denies his sale would damage Hamilton

JAMES McCarthy believes Hamilton will continue to thrive, even if he is to leave the club in the summer. The 18-year-old midfielder, the star of Accies' Premier League season, helped the Lanarkshire side to a 1-0 win at St Mirren on Saturday to ensure a ninth-placed finish in the table.

Hamilton retained their place in the SPL for the first time, but next season they may have to do without the services of the Republic of Ireland Under-21 star, who continues to attract the attention of bigger clubs.

Celtic and Portsmouth have already had bids rejected, but the Parkhead side are favourites to land the youngster, who will meet with manager Billy Reid and club chairman Ronnie MacDonald today to discuss his future.

While reluctant to talk about the possibility of him leaving Accies, McCarthy, who made his debut for Hamilton a day before his 16th birthday, was positive when asked if the Lanarkshire club can prosper in his absence.

"Yes, definitely," he said. "The papers hype me up, but we have a lot of great players at this club and they are a great bunch of boys. The gaffer says he is going to bring in a few players so we will be stronger and hopefully push on next season for a higher finish.

"We are delighted to secure SPL status. It is an unbelievable achievement for the club. But I will sit down with the management on Monday and see what happens."

McCarthy declared himself happy with his debut season in the SPL. "I scored six goals in the SPL, which I think is a good achievement," he said. "I wanted to add more goals, maybe get in to double figures, but I'm delighted be part of this squad to make history for Hamilton."

St Mirren are still looking for their first SPL win at their new stadium since moving there at the end of January and ultimately survived by only a two-goal margin after Falkirk won 1-0 at Inverness.

However, Saints boss Gus MacPherson refused to blame a catalogue of injuries for their fraught end to the season.

"Every team could say that," he said. " Over 38 games, the table won't lie. Every manager will have frustrations – we have plenty of them, but we are no different from anyone else."