Neil: League is our priority
Hamilton player-manager Alex Neil says he would happily sacrifice Wednesday night's League Cup clash with Motherwell if it would guarantee Accies victory in Saturday's Scottish Premiership derby.
The top-flight new boys face their Lanarkshire rivals at New Douglas Park before travelling to Fir Park at the weekend looking to cement their six-game unbeaten run in the league.
Accies have made a flying start to life in the Premiership and sit just two points behind joint leaders Dundee United and Inverness.
But Neil admits he is worried fighting on multiple fronts will take its toll on his paper-thin squad
Now he has warned he may risk resting some of his senior figures on Wednesday as he keeps his powder dry ahead of the all-important league showdown with Well.
Neil told Press Association Sport: "With Hibs, Hearts and Rangers being in a state of transition, there is a chance for a lot of the smaller clubs to have a good cup run.
"There is no reason why we can't think of doing the same as Kilmarnock, St Mirren and Aberdeen, who have all won it recently.
"But the only concern I would have is that I don't want us to take our eye off the ball in terms of the league.
"That is our bread and butter and we want to do really well in that competition. We want to have a good cup run too, but we have a really small squad and it might be difficult to manage the two.
"Would I name a weakened side on Wednesday? Well, my team will be determined by who is fit and who is not. But I would have no problem putting some of the younger boys in on Wednesday.
"But if I had to chose which of the two derbies we could win, I'd take the league game, without question.
"We want to continue our league form. I'm not writing the cup off - not at all - but the league is our priority."
Motherwell manager Stuart McCall, however, appears to have very different priorities.
McCall, who led Motherwell to the Scottish Cup final in his first season at Fir Park but has suffered disappointment in knockout football since, despite guiding the club to three consecutive top-three finishes, admits he would swap another year of league success for lifting a trophy at Hampden.
He said: "We have to do our utmost to pick up in the league. We would like to be in the top six. But a cup run and a bit of success, and giving the fans a trip to Hampden if possible, is high on our agenda.
"Having said that, you want to win every game and having a high position means you have won more games. Maybe punters will look back and be envious of St Mirren and Kilmarnock in terms of winning something, but the league form we have had in the last few seasons has been fantastic.
"Being greedy, we would like to do both, but I would certainly give up a couple of places if we could be successful in the cup."
Motherwell midfielder Stuart Carswell is suspended for the clash while Steven Hammell and Craig Moore are still not quite fit.
The Accies are hopeful Mickael Antoine-Curier will shake off a tight hamstring to be passed fit but Neil is unsure whether Jesus Garcia Tena (ankle) and Martin Canning (knee) will be able to feature while Darian MacKinnon serves the second of his four-match ban.
Source: PA
