Martin Canning: 'My job is to keep Hamilton in the top flight'

Martin Canning succeeded Alex Neil as Hamilton manager in January 2015

Hamilton boss Martin Canning has reminded frustrated fans this is the best period in the club's history and is calling for their full backing.

Accies sit 10th in the Premiership, four points above the bottom.

And Canning was subjected to verbal abuse from supporters during Saturday's Scottish Cup defeat at St Johnstone.

"Every season we're tipped to go down and every season we fight extremely hard to stay in the Premiership," said Canning.

"It's not often that I defend myself, I usually just accept it and move on. But if I'm looking at what my job is, it's to keep Hamilton in the top flight.

"We've kept the club up four seasons in a row. That's the record. We've never done that before in our history. That's success, if you like.

"We're moving players from our academy, we're selling them and the club's making good money from that. Our academy's been in Europe; we've got great young kids coming through who want to come to a club that's in the Premiership, that's got a good youth structure."

Accies' loss at McDiarmid Park was their sixth defeat in seven games and there were reports of the manager's father leaving at half time after an exchange with fans.

But Canning explained that his father was escorting his nephew, who had been upset by the vitriol aimed at the away dugout.

"My dad wasn't verbally abused by Hamilton fans and that wasn't the reason for him leaving," he said. "I think somebody shouted something and he shouted something back but at that point he was on his way out anyway. It's been dealt with and it's done.

"Get behind the team, get behind the club. I know the bigger picture maybe doesn't matter to a lot of people. The picture, for some, is purely three o'clock on a Saturday. The club is going through, believe it or not, it's most successful spell ever, so let's get behind that."