James McCarthy is a wanted man and Hamilton want him most of all to stay and keep them in the top flight.

Hamilton welcome back Martin Canning from suspension for today's game with Kilmarnock. However, the side will have to cope without Simon Mensing after he was banned following his red card against Dundee United last week. Manager Billy Reid has no fresh injury worries ahead of the game. Meanwhile, Reid says he is not surprised to hear that Barcelona have registered an interest in James McCarthy. But the Accies boss is confident that the teenager is going nowhere this season as they fight to stay in the SPL. McCarthy's agent confirmed this week the Catalan giants want to be kept informed of his situation, they will now be added to the list of top flight clubs south of the border looking at McCarthy. Reid knows full well that McCarthy will one day move on to a bigger club and fulfil his potential - but is confident it will not happen this season.

Reid said: "James McCarthy has been outstanding this season and I saw that a lot of people gave him man of the match last week again. He has been absolutely sensational in the SPL and that speculation will never go away. The one thing I guarantee is that he won't be leaving in January; he will be here until the end of the season at least. We will sit down with James and see where we are but it's no surprise there are big-name clubs looking at him." Reid says he has no worries about the transfer speculation having a detrimental effect on the youngster's form, saying: "He's had that since he was 15 years old. At first, I wondered how he handled it. But he's a just a fantastic professional. He knows what he wants to do and he knows what he has to do. He has to keep performing for Hamilton Accies because, if he doesn't, nobody will be interested in him."

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