 Brian Easton thinks Hamilton playmaker Ali Crawford does not need to bulk up in order to make an impact in England. The St Johnstone defender was still on Accies' books when the slight-framed attacker was bursting through under former manager Billy Reid. But while left-back Easton followed the path south tread by James McCarthy and James McArthur as he won a move to Burnley, Crawford has been unable to attract the same interest. The reasons for that continue to bewilder his former team-mate, especially given his nine-goal contribution to Martin Canning's team this term, without which Hamilton would be in major trouble. One possible detraction is Crawford's diminutive stature but Easton reckons the Accies talisman has the brain to make up for his lack of brawn.Easton, who will come up against Crawford and co when they visit Perth on Saturday, said: "When you play against Hamilton, he's always the guy who gets brought up in the team talk beforehand. You all know you need to stop him doing his job. Hamilton will be buzzing that he is still there now and even more so if no-one comes in before the window shuts. I'm pretty sure he could do a job for many teams out there. I can understand why people may think the reason he hasn't gone down to England is because of physique. He's got every other attribute so when you started asking why he's not moved, maybe that's the reason why teams aren't talking a chance on him. But for me, he's got a good football brain so I don't think not having a big physique would hold him back too much." Grant Gillespie admitted Hamilton had been a good place to be after their first win in 12 games last week, with a late penalty from Rakish Bingham securing a fifth-round spot in the Scottish Cup. The Accies right-back said: "It has been a happy camp this week. Everyone coming in on Monday morning had a smile on their face. It was nice to watch the video back for once. If the game is Saturday or Sunday, we will go over the game on the Monday - win, lose or draw - and pick out what we did wrong and what we did right. The performances have been good. It has been depressing that we have not won as many games as we feel that we should and that was the biggest depressing factor watching the games back." |
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