Hamilton manager Brian Rice has thanked Derek McInnes and Aberdeen for Bruce Anderson after the Dons loanee shone again for Accies.
The striker moved to South Lanarkshire on loan during Deadline Day and has hit the ground running after limited opportunities at Aberdeen. He’s scored two goals with two assists in four matches under Rice, his latest a deflected effort in a 1-1 away draw with St Mirren.
Anderson is out on loan from Aberdeen. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Rice was full of praise for Anderson and his parent club: “I’m very grateful to Aberdeen and I’ve thanked Derek McInnes. He’s come here and found a nice partnership with Marios. At Aberdeen they’ve got a good squad and he wasn’t starting too much.
“But let’s not forget the boys at the back. We’ve had a settled back three, got them together on Boxing Day and we’ve only lost nine goals since then including games against the Old Firm.
“It was a good honest battle with two honest teams fighting for the win so nobody can complain. To fight back and be on the front foot trying to win was good to see.”
Rice is delighted with Anderson. (Photo by Rob Casey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Anderson’s form runs in parallel with an unwanted goal record at Aberdeen. The Dons’ 1-0 defeat to Celtic on Wednesday made it six games without a goal, the longest run without one in the club’s history.
But McInnes doesn’t regret sending Anderson out to another Premiership side, saying: “It’s not a frustration, it’s childish to think that way. We want our players to do well when they go out on loan.
“Every time Bruce scores this will get aimed at me, but he went out to Ayr and never scored a goal and wasn’t getting a game at the end of it. We brought him back, sat him down, and said we were keen to get him playing first-team football and to come back to us next season.
McInnes has commented on the striker. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
“So every time he scores it’s not frustrating, it’s a pleasure that the boy is doing well. I know it’s a good story for people to throw at me, but we feel for his development the best thing or him is to go through that loan process to try and get to the end-game.”
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