Connor Smith says Hamilton Accies ‘crumbled’ when Arbroath went down to 10 men on Friday night, and admits he could have won the game, rather than drawing 0-0.
The on-loan Hearts star had the best chance of the first half but fired his shot straight at Red Lichties keeper Derek Gaston, and did the same in the second half.
Despite Ricky Little being shown a straight red card for a foul on Accies striker Jean-Pierre Tiehi, the hosts failed to break Arbroath down and were lucky on occasions not to fall to defeat.
With Cove Rangers also losing to Dundee there is still a point between each of the bottom three sides, with Hamilton sandwiched in the middle.
But Smith says they didn’t know how to deal with their opponents’ reduction in numbers.
Smith, brother of Callum, who played for Hamilton before moving back to Airdrie, said: “Since I’ve been here we’ve never come up against a 10-man team.
“I thought at the start of the game we were the better team and were pushing to get a goal, and when they went down to 10 men, I think we just crumbled.
“I missed a chance that could probably have settled the game, and after that we kept trying.
“But it looked like at the end that they were going to score more than us, on the counter, and that can’t happen.
“They looked like they were a threat on the counter at the end, and I think that was because we were all pushing up the pitch and trying to get a goal.
“It was just one of those games where we needed to take our chances.
“A point is a point, but we were desperate for the three.
“A win would have put us up to eighth, two ahead of Cove, and it would have been massive for us.”
Disappointment in the Accies dressing room possibly showed how far they have come in recent weeks, with a five-game unbeaten run ending with a 4-1 loss against leaders Queen’s Park last weekend.
Smith said “We’ve not been beat, but it’s a game we thought we were going to win, and it’s a game that they went down to 10 men, so we should be winning games like that.
“Before I was here I don’t know what the spirit was like, but I’m guessing at the bottom of the league they’d have taken a point.
“Now that we’re above them, I think we definitely need to push for a goal and take everything.
“The gaffer’s gutted, the whole team is gutted, and we definitely wanted the three points.”
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