Hamilton Accies star ruled out for the season after horror injury

Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin has confirmed that defender Fergus Owens is out for the entire season after sustaining a knee injury in pre-season.

The 21-year-old, who in April signed a two-year contract extension, was crocked five days into the summer programme and will need a few operations to fix the problem.

Rankin had high hopes of Owens, from East Kilbride, making this a real breakthrough season at Hamilton, but says the young defender is upbeat.

The New Douglas Park gaffer, meanwhile, will run the rule over three trialists that he has brought in to bolster his squad.

He said: “The thing we didn’t expect to happen was the Fergus injury, so that puts into perspective what we can actually do.

“We didn’t expect him, after five days, to be out for the season, so with that, in turn it means we have to prioritise what we need to bring in.

“That’s the bit just now that we’re hopefully able to whittle down and make decisions on.

“If you look at the knee, everything that’s inside it [is the problem]. Fergus is not in a fortunate position with his knee, it’s a bad one. He will need a couple of operations to fix it. His season is over.

“He got scanned last week, we found out the bad news and, to be fair to Fergus, he has a really positive mind-set.

“He has had a similar injury before, he’s positive about the outcome. He knows it’s going to take a lot of dedication, a lot of positive thinking between now and then, but he’s prepared.

“He’s done the hard graft before with this situation and is prepared to do it again.

“He knows what’s at stake now, and last season he had a really good season and it’s unfortunate for him, because we were hopeful that he was going to bounce on.”

Rankin had four trialists involved as his side lost 5-2 in a closed doors friendly against Rangers, with new signing Oli Shaw scoring in that and a 2-1 defeat at Kelty Hearts on the same day.

He said: “I think at this time of the season with the good players that are out of contract we have to be active and see where it can strengthen us.

“We’ve had three players on trial from the beginning, they’ve done pretty well, and we’re trying to negotiate what we can do there.

“They’ve played their games, and when it comes to a certain bit, as all trialists do, they begin to worry about if they can pick up injuries or where their deal is, so I totally understand that.

“We have to respect that, but at the same time they’re training with us, so we’re trying to see if we can get something over the line.”

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