'We are a million miles apart' - Hamilton boss Brian Rice on his side being 'massive underdogs' against Hearts

Hamilton boss Brian Rice believes his side are "massive underdogs" for the relegation clash with Hearts at Tynecastle with the team down to the "bare bones".

Accies sit 11th in the Ladbrokes Premiership, a point and a place above Daniel Stendel's side.

The clubs have swapped positions a couple of times in recent weeks, while both suffered defeats during the week. Hamilton went down 3-1 to Aberdeen on Tuesday with Hearts losing 5-0 at Celtic Park the following night.

In the loss to the Dons, captain Brian Easton landed awkwardly in the first half, dislocating his shoulder. He has been ruled out for between eight and 12 weeks. Accies will also be without Mickel Miller, George Oakley and Andy Dales, while there are doubts about Steve Davies.

Ex-Hearts player David Templeton picked up a knock in the warm-up on Tuesday. He started but was subbed at half time.

"I'm down to the bare bones," Rice said. "My injury situation is - I'm not talking about it again - it's absolutely horrendous.

"Every injury we get is a major injury. I'm not going to spend my time talking about the boys that are injured because they can't help us in this situation. It's nobody's fault.

"We will talk about the boys who will step up to the plate and are going to have to show courage and bravery and get us out the position we are in."

Having led Accies to a draw and win over Hearts this season, Rice will likely field a youthful team tomorrow.

“It is a very important game for both teams, it is the bottom two against each other with 12 games to go," he said.

“It is always difficult going to Tynecastle with your strongest team, never mind having so many key players missing.

“They beat Rangers there recently and I know it is a venue where they always get vocal backing from their fans. It is a great atmosphere for the players to play in and I hope it lifts them.

“We will be massive underdogs due to the injuries and us as a club compared to them, we are a million miles apart. The thing is when you look at the league table we aren’t."

Rice reckons it is more than just his side and Hearts fighting for survival with St Mirren four points off the bottom and Ross County three points further ahead.

He said: “It would be nice (to have a four point cushion) but there would still be 11 games to go and we still have to play them again.

“There’s not just two of us involved in this. There’s at least another two clubs, possibly three, so I don’t want to get carried away and say it’s just us and Hearts.”