Today's result: Hamilton 2, Motherwell 0.

It just gets worse.  Five consecutive defeats. One point from a possible 21.  One goal scored in 10.5 hours of football.  Joint bottom of the league.

It was more of the usual garbage at Hamilton this afternoon, not helped by a bizarre team selection which featured Quinn in central midfield and McGhee persisting AGAIN with a striking partnership of  Porter and Sutton.  Not quite sure how long it'll take him to figure out it just doesn't work.

In a desperately poor first half, Motherwell enjoyed plenty of possession but rarely threatened the Accies goal.  At the other end, Graeme Smith had been a virtual spectator until a minute or so before the interval, when Kimpl was caught out by a ball over the top and McCarthy took full advantage to fire beyond the 'Well keeper.

It was more of the same after the break, with Motherwell pressing forward but unable to break down the home side's defence.  The killer second goal came after 67 mins following a mistake from Reynolds, and we never looked like getting back into the game.

The most depressing aspect of this defeat (in fact, the same could be said for Monday night's loss to Kilmarnock) is that the opposition were absolutely dire and created little in an attacking sense.  However, the players clearly don't seem up for a scrap, and Hamilton had to do little more than turn up today to earn the three points.

Team (4-4-2): Graeme Smith, Saunders, Klimpl, Quinn, Reynolds, Hammell, Murphy (O'Brien 58), Lasley, McGarry (Darren Smith 64), Porter, Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Nielsen, Malcolm, Fitzpatrick, McHugh, Hutchinson.

Booked: Klimpl, McGarry, Quinn.

Attendance: 3,527.

Mark McGhee didn't mince his words after this latest defeat, saying:
"We're bottom of the league - as we stand tonight, we're the worst team in the league and I'm the worst manager.  Until we're out of this position, we can't deny that we're in a relegation battle; until we start playing better or winning games, we can't claim that we're any better than we are.  We have to take that as our starting point, and on Monday we've got to come in and be determined to improve on that to prove to people that we aren't the worst team and for me to prove that I'm not the worst manager.  How can we say, 'With Stephen Craigan and Stephen Hughes, and Chris Porter playing his best, we'd be third in the league'? It's ridiculous.  Within myself, I know that we're better than that and there's better to come, but I can't say tonight, 'Hamilton have beaten us 2-0 but we're better than Hamilton and we're going to finish above them'.

"There's no doubt that there's a bit of a malaise about us, but it isn't just about missing players - we're just not a team at the moment.  We're going out there as individuals and they aren't connected, so there's something missing at the moment and that's what we have to work hard to get back.  That's my starting point with the lads - tonight we are bottom and on Monday we're coming in determined to work to get back from that, and I'm convinced we will."

McGhee added that Stephen Craigan will resume training on Monday, and that Stephen Hughes should be fit for next week.

Motherwell have been charged with a breach of SPL rules following the postponement of the Hearts game on December 6.  Details available here.

Incidentally, the Hearts game has been rescheduled for Wednesday, January 7.

We've been allocated just 500 tickets for the Scottish Cup trip to Inverurie on January 10, with around 100 going to the Supporters Association and the remainder on sale to season ticket holders on a first come, first served basis.  Details from the Official Site.

Our home game with Celtic in February has been moved to Sunday 22nd at 2pm for Setanta coverage.