And they're off........

Well, that's pre-season done and dusted and newly promoted Hamilton Academical await Inverness in the seasons opener at New Douglas Park. Accies have come a long way since being formed by the rector and pupils at the local school in Hamilton in 1874.

They were of course, promoted in sensational fashion after ousting Terry Butcher's Hibernian in the play off system via a dramatic penalty shoot-out. That was Butcher's last stand as he was removed from his post with Hibs being relegated. So, Accies it is, complete with Dougie Imrie that host us this Saturday.

Our pre-season ended with defeat at Birmingham as John Hughes side lost 3-1 with Gary Warren notching our counter. We had beaten Fleetwood Town 2-1 the previous week and by all accounts we appear hell bent on playing the short passing and ball retention game that we ended our last campaign with, despite most onlookers fearing that this could be our downfall. Yogi's take on it is ball retention at all times. If we have the ball we might score, if they have the ball, they might score. Simplistic enough, but not always working out, especially when losing the ball near your own box. Bit of work still required on that one.

Our squad remains intact at the moment and there has been little personnel change, although Ryan Baptie, the former Hibernian midfielder has looked promising when he has been given some game time. We looked to be crying out for someone to help out Billy McKay but so far nobody has filled that void although young starlet Ryan Christie has shown massive potential when he plays. It appears that Fleetwood Town have tabled a bid for McKay and this has been rejected for now, but it remains to be seen if we will need someone to assist Billy, or a replacement.

Hamilton Accies have signed Falkirk goalkeeper Michael McGovern, him of the big ears jibes, (good keeper nonetheless although he does flap a bit at times) and Clyde midfielder Kieran MacDonald and Imrie is back for a second spell at the club. Mickael Antoine-Curier has signed a further one-year deal and will be looking to add to the 13 goals he scored last season. Jason Scotland and Jesus Garcia Tena have also agreed extended deals which gives boss Alex Neil plenty of continuity to build on last seasons exploits. Midfielder Danny Redmond is a familiar name signed from from Wigan. He was previously on loan to Accies in 2012 when he scored 5 times in 19 games.

Accies have already ended their summer break and were in victorious League Cup action, defeating Arbroath 2-1, but were very much on top. Imrie and Longridge scoring the goals as Hamilton forced the pace of the game and ran out comfortable winners despite a late consolation from Arbroath.

Inverness have been without fans favourite Ross Draper for the latter part of pre-season, but he could start in this one. Richie Foran is not ready for action after knee surgery last season. One or two knocks taken during the holidays with Raven being subbed early at Birmingham and Devine missing out as well.

Hamilton boss Alex Neil has no fresh worries with Jon Routledge and Tony Andreu not fully recovered from their injuries yet.

tm4tj Prediction:- Recent games against Hamilton have been pretty dour affairs and that may prove to be the case once more with a single goal being enough to win this one. It could go either way so I'll settle for a share of the points.