Darian MacKinnon says a united Hamilton Accies can get back to the Premiership if they can rediscover the club ethos he thrived on as a player.
MacKinnon, 36, is back at New Douglas Park as assistant to John Rankin, having spent a couple of years in the West of Scotland League with Drumchapel United.
The former Accies midfield general says it’s like he was never away, and can’t wait to get stuck in to the job.
And he says everybody coming together can pay dividends for the club.
MacKinnon said: “It’s just about getting the group together, getting back to the old Hamilton Accies way.
“We’ve not got the most money, we’ve not got the biggest everything, but when we at the club are as one – which it’s probably not been for the last couple of years – when it’s back together as one we can go and do some good stuff.
“We don’t need to hark back to the past, but the group – the 18s, the first-team, the management team, upstairs – when we were all as one we got to the Premier League and stayed there for so long.
“It showed that it can be done if everybody’s united in the club.”
MacKinnon is pleased to be back at the club and working with John Rankin, who he crossed swords with in his Accies academy days.
He said: “I’m delighted, buzzing. I had been away for a couple of years, came back in and from the first day it was as if I had never been away. I’m enjoying it.
“It was good at Drumchapel. Me and the boy Willie Dyer did the full coaching and football department there, if you like, so it was good experience for me for the last couple of years.
“I went from the academy to men’s football, to back here, so it has been a good grounding.
“I know most of the players here anyway, I had quite a few of them in the academy, under-17s, or under-18s, I can’t quite remember the age group.
“I bring experience, energy, and I think I’m good on the pitch.
“I played at a good level for years, so there are situations that I can see that maybe some of them haven’t seen before.”
MacKinnon added: “It’s brilliant working with John. I spoke to John probably a week or two before I came in, I know him from playing against him and from work in the academy.
“He was at Hearts and I was at Accies.
“He’s a good guy, he’s determined and has the anger streak in him that you need. You can’t just be a nice guy.
“I’ve watched some of his training and it’s excellent. Everything here is ready to go here, we just need a wee bit of help with the squad to shore up the areas we think we need done.
“If we get a nice, balanced team on the pitch in our style and as soon as that happens I think you’ll see us going.”
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