Aberdeen skipper Joe Lewis has revealed he has learned never to write off Hamilton as he prepares for the visit of Accies on Saturday.

Brian Rice's side are bottom of the Scottish Premiership on goal difference behind Kilmarnock with a game in hand and with eight fixtures remaining are in another battle for survival.

Lewis though, has a healthy respect for the Lanarkshire outfit.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper, who joined the Dons from Cardiff City in 2016, said: "I have been here in Scotland coming up to five years and when I first came, Hamilton was a game where you naively thought 'we will get three points here' but you just can't take that for granted.

"Hamilton thrive on being the underdog and they want people to underestimate them and take your foot off the pedal and if you do that they will punish you.

"Hamilton, especially at this part of the season, always seem to come and grab a few surprise results.

"I am sure they are not surprised by them, but for neutrals looking in...

"I always feel they never know when they are beaten, they can be two or three nil down and they will still go and get a couple of goals back we expect a tough battle.

"They are fighting for survival in this league and we are fighting for third spot in the league so it is going to be a game with a lot of passion, effort and hopefully the qualities we have in our team can stand out.

"We have seven league games coming up which are massive games, starting on Saturday. Obviously we are looking to get three points on Saturday."

Aberdeen are four points behind third-placed Hibernian having played a game more, but Lewis remains confident of over-taking the Easter Road side.

The former England under-21 keeper said: "Third place is definitely a massive goal for us.

"Obviously Hibs have the advantage at the moment and they have a game in hand as well.

"But everyone is fighting for various reasons and there is plenty to play for.

"After the split where you play teams around you and there will be a lot of surprise results between now and the end of the season.

"We are looking to keep battling away. It is going to be very interesting and depending how the post-split fixtures pan out, there could be some crunch games towards the end of the season."