Hamilton Accies: Xavier Tomas not feeling any pressure from rare transfer fee

Xavier Tomas wanted to leave Lausanne in search of first-team starts

Xavier Tomas does not feel any added pressure from being the first player in eight years for which Hamilton Accies have paid a transfer fee - because he did not know they had.

Accies last week revealed that the 31-year-old Frenchman had moved from Lausanne-Sport for an undisclosed fee.

"You think they paid a fee for my transfer?" he asked. "I don't know. I don't think it was £50m, so it's okay.

"I have good confidence in me anyway. This will not disturb me."

The last time Accies paid a transfer fee was in 2009, when they signed goalkeeper Tomas Cerny, now with Partick Thistle, from Czech club Sigma Olomouc.

But Tomas admitted that he had few options when his January move to the Swiss Super League turned sour.

He had signed for 18 months but only played three times under coach Fabio Celestini as his side finished ninth in the table.

"I wanted to get out of the club because I'm not young and I like to play," Tomas explained.

"This is my philosophy and, if I don't play, I'm not satisfied.

"I didn't have a lot of offers, but I am very happy because Hamilton trust me and want me and this is the most important thing for me."

Michael Devlin is missing with an injury picked up last season

Accies become Tomas' ninth club, but he does not view New Douglas Park as another temporary stop-off, revealing that he hopes to bring his family over to Scotland within the next month.

Having started in the French lower leagues with Gueugnon, the defender in recent years spent time in the Greek Super League with Levadiakos and the Israeli Premier League with Maccabi Petah Tikva and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv.

Tomas fitted the bill for Accies manager Martin Canning after the release of Jesus Garcia Tena and Danny Seaborne and the loss of captain Michael Devlin through injury.

The Frenchman does not know too much about the Scottish league but is itching to be involved against Queen of the South in the League Cup on Saturday despite admitting he is short of match fitness.

"I need to know more about the league," he added. "But the Scottish league is a good league, it is intensive, physical and there are a lot of good players."