MARTIN CANNING has been given a crucial endorsement from the Hamilton Accies' dressing room that he is the man to fill the void left by Alex Neil's departure to Norwich City.
The interim player-coach suffered a cruel 3-2 defeat to Dundee United in his first game in charge but Mickael Antoine-Curier is backing Canning to make a success of the role and admitted the Hamilton players were upset at letting their new 'manager' down.
Although Hamilton fought back from a two-goal deficit, Sean Dillon's late winner for Dundee United inflicted the Lanarkshire club's first home defeat since last August. Canning left himself on the bench to get a better perspective but there is no doubt that the Hamilton captain's absence in central defence was exploited by Dillon.
"I think we definitely missed Martin at the back post when we lost the third goal," said Antoine-Curier, the Hamilton forward. "However, it's been a bit hectic for him over the past few days. Martin will be the first to tell you he wasn't best prepared to play. Maybe if he'd put himself on earlier we could have avoided the third goal.
"We have to forget about Alex now, he's gone. We wish him all the best but we must look forward and try to help the new manager as best we can. Nothing has changed the past few days. The new manager told us we were going to continue with what we'd been doing.
"Martin has all the qualities to be successful like Alex. That was only his first game and we wish we could have helped him a bit more but I'm sure he will be fine. He's a confident leader - very good - his team talk was spot on and our preparation for the game was good. I think he can be a success for Hamilton."
Like Canning, Neil also began on the managerial ladder as an interim appointment who combined playing and coaching after Billy Reid left the club in April 2013. However, that was in a lower division and Canning is possibly more indispensable on the pitch because he is a defender, rather than Neil was as a midfielder.
"It's not an easy position to be in," said Antoine-Curier. 'I don't think Alex would have found it easy in the beginning either and I'm sure Martin will be fine as he's well respected in the changing room and by everyone at the club. He's a great leader.
"We can't dwell on what's happened. We just need to refocus and be well prepared for the next game against Celtic on Saturday. If we can get more points on the board to firstly get us safe, to be in the top six would be a great achievement. Can we beat Celtic again? Ask me on Saturday."
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