There'll be no old pals' act for Jim and Robbo - MARK BONTHRONE

Last updated : 06 August 2004 By Dov
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The duo spent three years together at Hearts and ‘Hammy’ was as pleased as anyone to see his former strike partner and ex Lions coach lead Caley Thistle to promotion last term.

Hamilton, who signed a one-year-deal in West Lothian after negotiating a release from Ross County at the end of last season, believes Robertson has all the attributes to become a top manager in the game but is determined to make sure his career in the top flight gets off to a losing start.

"Friendships will definitely go out of the window when the whistle goes tomorrow," said the 28-year-old.

"Robbo and I spent three years together at Hearts and had some great times, particularly winning the Scottish Cup. We do keep in touch and will always be friends but I definitely hope it’s me celebrating a win tomorrow and not him.

"I was really pleased for him when he got Inverness promoted and it was fully deserved. He has done a great job so far and is showing all the signs that he can be a good manager for years to come.

"I would love to see him have a successful career in management but I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure he has a blip at the weekend!

"He used to coach with Livingston as well along with the gaffer so everyone will want to pick up the three points so they have the right to brag."

Caley’s visit south is not only a big day for Robertson but also for Hamilton and the other new recruits signed over the summer.

The former Dundee, Dundee United and Aberdeen striker was one of nine players brought into the club as Allan Preston set about building a squad that contained just four signed players when he was appointed.

The first team pool is now 21-strong and Hamilton is desperate to stake his claim for a place and prove himself after a year out of the top flight.

"I’m absolutely delighted to be back in the SPL because when you do drop down a division you wonder if your chance has maybe passed you by," he said.

"Every player wants to play at the highest level they can and I’m hoping to be able to repay the faith the gaffer has shown in me by scoring him goals.

"I’m confident in my own ability and if I get the chance to play tomorrow then I would love to grab a goal."

Hamilton featured in most of the Lions’ pre-season run-outs with the club only suffering to one defeat in their six matches. However, he insists that the time to judge the new look side is not in warm-up games but in fixtures like tomorrow’s.

"We have enjoyed quite a good pre-season and had a few good results but that won’t mean anything unless we pick up points in the league.

"We all know that the real work starts tomorrow and everyone is keen to get off to as good a start as we possibly can.

"There has been a lot of new guys come in but the trip we had to Portugal definitely helped and we seem to have established a good team spirit pretty quickly.

"It’s a reasonably small league in Scotland anyway which has probably helped as although we may not have all played together a lot of us have at least played against each other in the past."

While Hamilton has identified getting the campaign off to a good start as being important he knows from personal experience that Caley Thistle won’t make it an easy task.

"It would be good to win our first game and I suppose we may be seen as favourites as they have just been promoted but it will be a hard game.

"I played against them last year and know all about he kind of team they are.

"They will come here desperate to show they can play at this level and will make it really hard.

"They have a lot of players who have played in the SPL before and then dropped down a level who will be keen to show they can cut it at this level.

"They have signed Juanjo, who was with me at Hearts, and there are others who are more than capable of causing us a problem or too.

"On top of the one or two new players they have brought in they’ve also still got the majority of the squad that won the First Division last year so they will be full of confidence.

"But so are we and with both teams desperate to get off to a winning start it should be an exciting game."