Michael Devlin admits Hamilton Accies' first and foremost priority is to retain their place in the Scottish Premiership and says anything above that is a bonus.

Despite being the tender age of 22 the defender has been handed captaincy by manager Martin Canning, himself a former owner of the armband at the club.

And while Hamilton only finished seven points above the play-off spot at the end of last season it was enough to keep the Lanarkshire men happy with facing another season in the top flight.

Devlin said: "We'll never look any further than staying in the league - first and foremost that's the most important thing.

"We're the smallest club in the league, we've got the smallest budget and we'll only ever look to make sure we consolidate our Premiership status.

"Anything other than that is a bonus. That's first and foremost the priority. It's the same every single year.

"If we're able to achieve anything more than that then great but as a club that'll be the aim."

Accies were the first team to benefit from the new play-off system into the Scottish Premiership having come from behind to defeat Hibernian two years ago.

With the smallest club and budget in the league the underdog label is often used to describe Hamilton's chances but their new captain was quick to play down any change in Accies' approach.

Devlin said: "It's something that we've been used to, to be honest, right from the play-off game when we beat Hibs.

"The first game we were 2-0 down and everybody wrote us off and we kind of showed what we're made of.

"The nucleus of the squad is still there, that same team is still there, and we've been used to that since we got back to the premier league.

"Everybody tends to write us off but then that makes it kind of sweeter when we prove people wrong and stay in the league.

"It's not something we look into too much, as I say we're kind of used to that by now.

"We're professionals and we've to do a job - that job is to stay in the league for the club and for the fans. "