Aberdeen 1 - 2 Hamilton: Billy Reid desperate to hold on to Antoine–Curier as on-loan striker plays pivotal role in Pittodrie success

Published on Sunday 13 December 2009 23:14

HAMILTON manager Billy Reid would love to prolong Mickael Antoine-Curier's stay at New Douglas Park after the striker played an instrumental part in his side's 2-1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday.

Antoine-Curier, on loan from Dundee until 1 January, opened the scoring before Australian midfielder James Wesolowski scored a late winner as the Lanarkshire men recorded back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

The striker has now scored five Clydesdale Bank Premier League goals this season and Reid admitted he would be thrilled if he can convince the 26-year-old to remain at New Douglas Park.

"We have been trying to get something sorted out on that front," the Hamilton manager said. "Antoine-Curier has been brilliant for me. I can't speak any more highly of him. He has scored five times already this season and he really leads the line well for us. He is a fantastic player and I think he showed that again against Aberdeen."

After the match Antoine-Curier revealed he has a clause in his contract at Dundee that guarantees him a new deal if the current Irn-Bru Scottish First Division leaders win promotion this season.

But Reid is determined to keep hold of the French-born Guadeloupe international who is proving a successful focal point of attack for the Accies, who moved up to seventh place with the victory.

"You have to pick players that suit your style and Antoine-Curier is suited to playing as a lone striker," Reid said.

"He has a group of players who work hard for him and he runs the channels well and scores goals. What more can I ask for?"

Reid also believes his side should be aiming for more than just avoiding relegation this season following the win.

Reid said: "People expect us to be at the bottom of the table but we never look down and we have a belief in what we are trying to do at the club.

"We think we can play in the right manner and we are progressing as a club.

"To come here and win is pleasing for us and I think over the 90 minutes we just deserved it.

"When Gary McDonald equalised it looked as though there was only going to be one winner and that was Aberdeen but we seemed to get a new lease of life and began to look more threatening."

The Accies manager was particularly pleased to see Australian midfielder Wesolowski score his first goal for the New Douglas Park side. "That was James' first senior goal, which is incredible because in training he is a great finisher but for some reason he has not managed to get on the scoresheet. I hope it is the first of many," said Reid.

The Hamilton manager refused to criticise Lee Miller for a late challenge on his goalkeeper Tomas Cerny, who had to be withdrawn at half-time following the tackle.

"The ball was there to be won," added Reid.

"He has hit the goalkeeper but I would expect my centre-forward to go in and try to win the ball. I have no problem with that."

The Dons have only struck the back of the net a paltry 12 times this season – the same number as bottom of the league Falkirk, with striker Lee Miller and Tommy Wright drawing another blank on this occasion.

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee fears it will take time before his side are firing on all cylinders in the final third.

He said: "From the day I got here that is something I said I would address over the medium to the longer term.

"The danger was that after we beat Rangers everybody might have thought everything was now right. I said right away that it wasn't and that we can expect good days and bad days until we have a team out there that has either gone through a bit more development or until we have made some changes to the squad.

"One day we will start scoring goals freely but at the moment we are struggling to do that."

Aberdeen could be missing two key players for next week's visit of high-flying Hibernian.

Peter Pawlett, the Clydesdale Bank Premier League young player of the month for November, was substituted in the first half after suffering a hip problem, while defender Maurice Ross limped off with a hamstring injury.

McGhee thought his side would go on and win after midfielder McDonald equalised with 15 minutes to go.

He said: "If I was playing today I would have wanted us to go on and win after we got it back to 1-1 but there has to be an element of the team that are more cautious.

"One of the things we have said in the dressing room is that when you get it back to 1-1 you have to maintain a certain element of caution, while the other element of the team go on to try to win the game.

"Once we got back to 1-1 we shouldn't have lost the game."

But McGhee claimed his side's inconsistency was not down to a lack of belief.

He added: "It isn't to do with confidence. The younger players in the team still have to understand that football is not just about skill and taking people on.

"There is another side to the game which Hamilton demonstrated well today and that is determination, which can get you very far."