IT'S TOP RANKIN

John joy after off-field Accies woe

- GORDON PARKS

JOHN RANKIN insists relegation-threatened Hamilton created the perfect headlines after their off-field woes.

The boss hailed Reghan Tumilty's strike moments before the break which allowed Accies to leapfrog Dunfermline and remain five points above bottom side Airdrieonians.

But after a week where news broke of a potential points deduction for losing their bronze license, with being forced to leave their stadium also a possibility, Rankin was delighted to get back to talking football.

He said: "I have only read what's been in the papers and don't know about a points deduction but our focus is only on the football and winning games.

"Our sole focus was about coming here and winning the game. We had to show real character and all of the credit goes to my players for what is a big result.

"This is the business end of the season and all the results at this stage seem like big ones. Everything is about results and we knew there would be over 7000 at the game, we had to turn the crowd and we did that."