Brian Rice hopes his Hamilton squad will be in a better place by the time they face Dundee United next week.

The Accies boss was dealt a blow before the 2-0 Scottish Premiership defeat by Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday when defender Aaron Martin was forced to withdraw after his Covid-19 track and trace app told him he had to isolate.

Veteran skipper Brian Easton had also joined the injury list which includes players such as  Marios Ogkmpoe, Will Collar, Shaun Want, David Templeton and Lewis Smith.

A Greg Kiltie double gave the home side a deserved win but Rice remained positive, although he knows bolstering his squad will not be easy as he turned his attention to the visit of United next Saturday.

He told Accies TV: “You are trying to get something from every game.

“But it is very difficult to win games in this league.

“Hopefully we will have one or two bodies in, hopefully we will have one or two bodies back and that will give us a stronger squad to choose from.

“I have actively been trying to get players in.

“I am spending every minute of the day trying to find players and it is very difficult for us at Hamilton to bring them in.

“It’s difficult for everybody but I am finding it extremely difficult to bring them in.”

After five straight defeats, Killie have won two and drawn one of their last three matches and seem to be back on track as they sit in seventh place.

However, boss Alex Dyer insists it will be the end of the season before he will be able to offer new deals to players who will be coming out of contract, including Kiltie.

He said: “A lot of the players’ contracts are up in the summer, not just Kiltie.

“Once we know where we are we will sort it out then.

“But I won’t be giving no one a contract, they have to wait, dig in and fight. We will have to see where we finish.”