Hamilton manager Brian Rice hailed the performances of strike partners George Oakley and Marios Ogkmpoe in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Hearts.
Oakley grabbed a brace to take his tally for the season to three, while Ogkmpoe also put in a tireless shift to cause the hosts problems.
Hearts manager Craig Levein even admitted after the game that his team’s defensive showing “was not good enough”.
Although delighted with his side’s collective display, Rice admits his forwards set the tone from the front.
He said: “I like to play two up and I think it causes problems. It’s a real difficult shift for one player to be up there on his own but sometimes personnel dictates that.
“I’ve got two lads up there who are big, physical and strong and the two of them can run.
“We can see that George can score goals and Mario had chances as well against Hearts.
“It gives the rest of the lads confidence knowing if they can get the ball up to them that we have the lads up there who are prepared to put the work in to try and keep it.”
The draw extends Hearts’ winless Premiership run to eleven matches and manager Levein faced chants to step down from angry supporters.
He said: “He came in on Saturday morning and said his hammy felt tight and a bit sore.
“He wasn’t confident he could play 90 minutes. He thought the problem would be tiredness in that the longer he played the more likely he would make it worse.
“I don’t think he injured it but I think he’s OK to go away with Scotland, although I don’t think he’s capable of playing 90 minutes.”
