Hamilton's Brian Rice '11 or 12 players down' after cuts
- Published
Accies would do same as Hearts & Thistle - Rice
Head coach Brian Rice says cuts at Hamilton Academical mean he is "down about 11, 12 players".
Rice, 56, signed Ross Callachan, Charlie Trafford and Callum Smith this week after nine players left Accies at the end of their contracts.
Hamilton finished the curtailed 2019-20 Scottish Premiership campaign in second-bottom place but did not have to face a relegation play-off.
"The size of the squad's been cut; no reserve team," Rice said.
"The pandemic's caused distress amongst lots of businesses and we're the exact same.
"We've lost a lot of players; some that we wanted to keep. We tried hard to keep these players. We made them offers in December.
"I won't be looking to add too many more, maybe one or two. We don't want too big a squad."
Despite not having a reserve team in the coming season, Rice insists Hamilton's academy remains "the heartbeat" of the club and local community and will not be affected by any downsizing.
"The academy here means everything to this club and we have got a good name for producing players and we hope to continue that," Rice added.
"I've got four or five kids that I gave a chance to last year and I know they can play at this level. I've no qualms about throwing these lads in. I know what they can do."