Hamilton's Antoine-Curier and Killie's Manuel Pascali tussle for possession

Hamilton and Kilmarnock failed to find the net in a very disappointing match involving two of the Scottish Premier League's struggling teams.

Accies' influential captain Alex Neil was injured in the warm-up and that seemed to set the tone for the game.

Killie striker Mark Burchill had the best chance of the match, when he pounced on an error by David van Zanten but Tomas Cerny made a fine save.

And Mickael Antoine-Curier failed to convert a late chance for the Accies.

Hamilton had lost their last four SPL games while Killie had not registered a win in their previous six and were looking for the first three points under new boss Jimmy Calderwood.

Despite losing Neil before kick-off, Accies started brightly, winning some early corners but without troubling Killie keeper Cameron Bell.

In the eighth minute it was Kyle, at the other end, who flicked a Craig Bryson corner high over the bar from 14 yards in what was the Rugby Park side's first attack.

The best chance of a disappointing first half fell to Burchill, who pounced when Hamilton's van Zanten hesitated in dealing with a long clearance down the middle by Mehdi Taouil.

However, Cerny raced from his line and saved Burchill's low drive.

This was to be the former Celtic striker's final meaningful contribution, as three minutes later Burchill limped off to be replaced by Liam Kelly.

At the other end, Simon Mensing nodded the ball into the path of Antoine-Curier, but his prodded shot was saved by Bell and the Killie goalie comfortably dealt with James McArthur's drive from 25 yards as the first half petered out.

The small crowd of just over 2,000 at New Douglas Park hoped for a more exciting second period but neither side could make the breakthrough.

Accies boss Billy Reid made a double substitution 10 minutes into the second half, Jordan Kirkpatrick replacing Marco Paixao and Kyle Wilkie on for Elliot.

On the hour mark, Killie captain Manuel Pascali powered in a header from a Bryson corner but Cerny was perfectly placed to gather.

A minute later McClenahan came on for Richard Hastings as Hamilton boss Reid used his last option off the bench.

It looked increasingly like the first goal would be the winner, if a chance could be fashioned.

A brief spell of Accies pressure with 15 minutes remaining saw Antoine-Curier just fail to get on the end of Wilkie's cross before van Zanten's drive was blocked by a clutch of Killie bodies inside the box.

The closing stages failed to deliver a grandstand finale, which means Kilmarnock stay in 11th position, two ahead of bottom side Falkirk and two behind their Ayrshire opponents.

Hamilton assistant manager Stuart Taylor: "We've had six games in the last 16 days and three of those have been against Rangers.

"We've got to look at what the boys have done in the last few weeks and take that into consideration.

"It was good that we got a clean sheet but we didn't have the cutting edge in the final third. We can't ask them to keep going every single time.

"We're proud of the boys. They have been fantastic.

"The majority of the fans clapped the players off the park. They could see the effort they put into the game.

"As a group of young players, their development has been staggering. The future is looking great for Hamilton Accies."

Kilmarnock manager Jimmy Calderwood: "I thought Hamilton dominated from the beginning. We were poor - our choice of pass, our pace.

"We made so many elementary mistakes. We were scared to take a touch.

"I was very angry at half-time but I thought we had the best of the second half.

"It was two teams struggling to score goals and probably scared to lose.

"I think a draw was a fair result.

"It would be nice to freshen up the squad and we are very busy trying to do that but that depends on the finances.

"We are hoping that there will be two or three (new players) by Monday."

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