Friday night football nothing new for Neil

Hamilton Accies and Partick Thistle meet tonight in the First Division’s second Friday Night fixture of the season.

For Accies skipper Alex Neil, it does not matter what time kick- off is or what day it is on, as he is desperate to play after returning from a seven-month spell out with injury.

The 30-year old was sidelined with a troublesome groin injury after Accies’ spell in the SPL ended last May and he has been making tentative steps back to playing, including featuring over the festive period against both Livingston and Queen of the South.

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After resting against St Mirren in the Scottish Cup last Saturday, Neil will be back against the Firhill side tonight. “I had been out all season due to a problem that was on the opposite side of my body that I had trouble with on my hip a couple of years ago,” he said.

“After coming back against Livingston, I felt good enough to play against Queen of the South and I got through that game, although I am sure that a positive 2-1 result helped me.”

The decision was taken to rest Neil against the Paisley side last weekend, with the midfielder saying: “I cannot complain about that as it was a precautionary move as I do not want to overdo things and put myself back out again. After going so long without seeing any light at the end of a tunnel, I do not want to run myself out as soon as I am back playing.”

On tonight’s game, Neil said: “Playing on a Friday night is nothing new for me as I played in a few games down south with Burnley and Mansfield on a Friday.”