Steven Davies insists his time at Hamilton has been the most enjoyable spell of his career.
Striker Davies made the move to Accies, who on Sunday face Rangers at Ibrox in the Ladbrokes Premiership, from Blackpool in January and played an instrumental role in keeping them in the top flight.
The 31-year-old had spent his whole career in England, starring for the likes of Derby and Rochdale, before making the move to Scotland.
And he relishes the togetherness at Hamilton as he knows everyone is pulling in the same direction to continually prove the doubters wrong and extend their spell in the Scottish first tier.
Davies said: “Listen, I’ve had a really good career but I’ve never enjoyed football as much as I have at this club because it’s such a small club, you know everybody, the players are all really good friends and that helps when you go into these big, tough games.
“You’re there with your friends and you want to give everything.
“No matter what people say or think about Hamilton, we have a belief within ourselves. We know we’re not here to just make up the numbers.
“Listen it’s a small club in this league but we’ve been in the league for six seasons and that doesn’t just happen by coincidence every single year.
“I think we have every right to be in this league and just because we’re going to Rangers doesn’t mean we’re inferior to them, we’re in the same league for a reason because we deserve to be here.
“We know what we are at this football club. We’re a small football club but we’ve got an unbelievable determination within the group.
“Listen, I’m going there looking to get three points. We know it’s going to be tough but gone are the days of going and shutting up shop.
“And I think especially under this manager, he sets us out with a game plan to cause problems for other teams and I’m sure Sunday will be no different.”
Davies is a huge Liverpool fan and is relieved the man in the home Ibrox dugout, Steven Gerrard, cannot play.
He said: “Steven was an unbelievable player for Liverpool and I’ve no doubt he’ll be a very successful manager.
“He’s a top manager but he can’t play on Sunday. No matter how good he was he can’t pull his boots on.
“It’s a relief to me he can’t pull on his boots – I wouldn’t fancy chasing him around.”
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