Brian Rice made his mark on Hamilton on his first day as head coach by persuading George Oakley to sign for Accies.

And the former Inverness striker has told his new club's fans that their new leader will get the best out of the players.

Oakley worked with Rice when he was assistant manager at Caley Thistle and believes he can push him to new levels in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

The 23-year-old former AFC Wimbledon player told Accies TV: "One of the big things that made me come here was the gaffer.

"He's a very passionate guy, loves football, loves to win. And that's what I needed. I needed another push in my career and he's going to help me towards that.

"He's crazy – but in a good way. He really gets you going. On the football field he is a very serious guy but you need that sometimes. He wants everything to be perfect.

"He will really help this club. You want someone on the sideline getting you going.

"Chipper (Rice) wants me to come with a smile on my face – I already am. I'm going to go out there and express myself and show everyone what I can do."

Rice has delivered the same message to all of his new players ahead of his first match in charge against Dundee on Saturday.

The 55-year-old said: "We need to go out there and try and put in a performance that gets the fans behind them, gets them off their seats, and gets the players playing with a smile on their face.

"I want to see players go out there enjoying themselves – knowing what they are doing – but most of all enjoying it.

"If the fans see the players enjoying it, something has gone right. We need to get them off their seats.

"If they get the right messages coming from us, you can get players doing anything. The only thing that stops players doing anything is fear, in my eyes.

"We have got to eradicate the fear factor and get them playing without fear, expressing themselves."