Davies welcomes Lanarkshire derby underdog tag

Hamilton striker Steve Davies is relishing the club’s underdog status ahead of Sunday’s Lanarkshire derby.

Accies have not won in four meetings between the local rivals and sit eight places and 22 points below their neighbours in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Hamilton have only won once in 13 games, with their latest result a 1-0 home defeat by St Johnstone.

But only Rangers have beaten them by more than one goal since they lost 3-1 to Motherwell with 10 men in August and Davies insists there is nothing to be afraid of at Fir Park.

“It’s the time of year when no-one outside of our football club is expecting us to pick up points,” said the forward, who celebrates his 32nd birthday on the day of the game.

“It’s one of those games where we will go there and there won’t be many people thinking we will win, but I think that sort of suits us and we’ll give it our best shot.

“We can cause problems against any team in the league. We have played Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen recently and haven’t looked out of place.

“Listen, we are playing Motherwell. They are a decent team but they are not a superb team and there is nothing there to be scared of.”

The well-travelled striker is well-versed in derby games from his spells at clubs including Derby, Blackpool and Rochdale.

“They are always tight and tough games,” he said. “I have played in a lot of derby games down in England and there is always an edge there with the fans, but as players it’s just another game and another one we are looking to win.

“My favourite derby in England was probably Derby County against Nottingham Forest, it’s always a big game. They are two massive clubs with big followings and they are always tense games.

“But, listen, this one is going to be no different. It will be tense, there will be a good crowd there.

“As a footballer, these are the games you want to be involved in. And especially after the result on Boxing Day, we need to go and perform and make sure we get something from the game.”