Hamilton Academical maintained their 100 per cent start to the season with a 1-0 win over Alloa Athletic, but manager Darian MacKinnon was brutally honest in his assessment, admitting his side didn't deserve the victory.
Playing their first home league match back at New Douglas Park, Accies edged the Wasps thanks to Cammy Blues' 27th-minute strike. However, MacKinnon was far from happy with his side's second-half display and felt that ex-Accie and Alloa gaffer Andy Graham deserved to take something back to Clackmannanshire for their efforts.
MacKinnon's Honest Verdict
MacKinnon told the club media: "I thought in the first half we were really good, got everything we were looking for. And then in the second half, if I'm going to be brutally honest, I thought Alloa deserved something out of the game. I can only call it as I see it and I said that to the players as well."
He added: "Alloa were a threat. We had a couple of chances on the counter attack but for the levels we are trying to set, the first and second halves were night and day. I wouldn't say Alloa had chance after chance on our goal but they were in dangerous areas and I was thinking 'if we don't change it, something is coming'. So we changed the shape and I thought that helped us. It gave us some extra bodies in the middle of the park."
Respect for Alloa
MacKinnon praised the opposition: "Last season Alloa were excellent. They lost a few players over the summer in terms of loans but Andy has replaced them well. They gave us a game today and we knew it was going to be a tough game."
Positives to Build On
Despite his disappointment, MacKinnon was pleased to see his side make it back-to-back clean sheets, backing up the previous week's 5-0 win away at Montrose to keep them top of League One.
He said: "I'm trying not to be too negative with the boys because we have won the game, but I think we can be better. Clean sheets are a foundation to build on. That's two of them and two wins in the league so that is a positive. I'm trying to do everything within me to be positive after the game but I am just disappointed with parts of the second half. They've won the game when they've not been at their best so I take my hat off to the players for getting the three points."
Accies are back in action on Wednesday night when they host Celtic B in the KDM Evolution Trophy.
