Hamilton happy to take the knocks for Lions side

Hard Hearts don’t phase Jim

MARK BONTHRONE

LIVINGSTON striker Jim Hamilton relishes the physical battle that comes with playing Hearts - even if their latest clash left him nursing a sore head.

The Lions’ top goalscorer left the Tynecastle pitch on Sunday bloodied and bandaged, but admits he expected nothing less than a tough time from Jambos defensive duo Steven Pressley and Andy Webster.

Hamilton took a nasty head knock midway through the first half and was forced to leave the field for several minutes to receive treatment with blood streaming from the wound.

But while some players may have thrown in the towel at that stage, Hamilton was quickly back in the thick of the action sporting a white bandage wrapped round his head.

And he insists that the pain was more than worth it as he helped his side to a valuable away point as they try to climb the SPL table.

"I do enjoy the physical side of the game and the head knock is just one of those things that can happen sometimes," he said. "When you play against the likes of Steven Pressley and Andy Webster you know it will be a bit of a battle and it’s good to test yourself against that. I’m just delighted that we managed to get a result and that was the main thing coming here."

While Hamilton was doing his bit to try and break down a solid Hears defence, he insists that gaining a point to help ease the disappointment of throwing away a lead against Motherwell seven days earlier was a team effort.

"I thought we had people that won their battles all over the park on Sunday and we didn’t give up on anything. When things haven’t been going well for you sometimes the only way to get it right is to put in a real shift and I think you saw that all the players worked their socks off for the team.

"Maybe we were stung by a bit of the criticism that we’ve been getting recently and some of it was probably deserved.

"But the manager getting stick was out of order and we wanted to show that we would fight for him and in the end it’s paid off."

And Hamilton, himself a former Hearts favourite, believes his side could have had even more to show for their efforts had they got the rub of the green.

"We are probably slightly disappointed only to have come away with a point," he said. "We feel we could have had three although to be fair we would have settled for a draw going into the game as Hearts are always hard at home.

"We were disappointed to lose out against Motherwell after being ahead when poor defending cost us so to come to Tynecastle and keep a clean sheet certainly gives us something to build on.

"The important thing is to make sure that we do make the most of this result and take the confidence it has given us and start moving our way up the league."

And Hamilton believes one player who can certainly help the side climb clear of the relegation area is 17-year-old Robert Snodgrass who made his first top-team start at Tynecastle.

"I thought Robert did really well," said Hamilton.

"It’s not an easy place to play at any time, particularly on your first start, but he showed great character and didn’t look at all out of place.

"He has got great potential and if he continues to develop the way he is then he can be a very good player for us."

Taken from the Scotsman