Hughes wary of Hamilton revenge
Inverness manager John Hughes believes Hamilton will be on a revenge mission when they travel to the Highlands on Saturday.
Caley beat Accies 2-0 at New Douglas Park on the opening day of the Premiership season before Alex Neil's side went on an 11-game unbeaten run - nine in the league - which took them top of the table before they were overtaken by Dundee United.
Hughes believes that defeat when the Lanarkshire men were finding their feet after being promoted via the play-off, will be fresh in their minds.
He said: "They will be looking to get a little bit of revenge for that first game of the season and show us how much they have improved.
"We caught them cold. We capitalised on a little bit of luck for the first goal and there was a bit of apprehension and tension in their game.
"I felt we were 'at it' and we are going to have to be 'at it' on Saturday because ever since then, they have found their feet.
"Three points are massive going into the international break and if we can keep them here in Inverness, then it could move us up a place or two in the league."
After losing 1-0 at Celtic Park last weekend despite a fine effort, Hughes is hoping there is no "come down" against a side he believes are very similar to his own.
The former Hibernian manager said: "In all my experience of being a player, coach and manager, coming off the back of a game against the Old Firm with the effort and commitment and concentration levels, sometimes you get a comedown and we have to be aware of that on Saturday.
"Trust me, I have seen it happen.
"I watched Hamilton against Aberdeen and if you were asking me to describe them then they were Inverness in disguise.
"I was impressed by the way they went about their business although Aberdeen deserved to win the match (1-0).
"They play with a great underdog mentality, they have a great mixture of youth and experience and they have great spirit."
Hamilton boss Alex Neil admits his side will find the second quarter of the season harder than their sensational first as opposition bosses look to snuff out his exciting youngsters.
The newly-promoted Accies caused a stir when their nine-match unbeaten run took them to the top of the Scottish Premiership.
That impressive set of results was enough to see player-manager Neil claim the SPFL Scottish Premiership manager of the month award for October.
But Accies have now slipped behind new front-runners Dundee United and crashed out of the League Cup after Dundee, Aberdeen and Partick all found ways to stifle the New Douglas Park side.
Now Neil believes other sides will make stopping Accies playing their first priority as the season progresses.
He said: "It will become more difficult as people become more familiar with us. I found at the start of the season people were coming here thinking they were better than us and just trying to outplay us.
"But we quickly showed that if we can play as well as we can, we are a match for anyone. We've seen these last few games that teams are now trying to stop us playing, which is a bit more difficult."
But Neil does not believe this weekend's opponents Inverness will adopt such negative tactics.
He said: "I don't think Inverness will do that. I think they will believe in the way they play and hopefully we can play as well as we can. We won't set out to stop them. We want to play our own game."
Accies opened the season with a 2-0 defeat to John Hughes' men before bouncing back in spectacular fashion with their unbeaten run - a streak which included their famous 1-0 win over Celtic at Parkhead.
But a 2-0 reverse to Dundee and 3-3 draw with Partick in the league, coupled with their League Cup exit at the hands of the Dons, has taken the shine off their stunning start.
Neil though is still full of pride and insisted the credit for his award should go to his troops.
"It is recognition for everything the players have done during October," said the Accies boss.
"Obviously we beat Celtic and Aberdeen so it is merited for what we have done. It's not just for me. It's mostly for the team and how well they have done.
"It's pleasing to get the award but I'm just hoping the old curse doesn't come back to haunt us on Saturday. We want to get back to winning ways against Inverness."
Source: PA
