Anyone who has been following the fluctuating fortunes of Hamilton this season, or last season for that matter, will know that individual errors are one of manager Martin Canning’s long-held bugbears.

So, it was hardly surprising to hear that he felt a great deal of sympathy for his colleague, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, when mistakes by his players prevented his players taking anything from a hugely positive performance against Bayern Munich.

Canning has been in that movie with Accies far too often for his own liking, and as a manager, he says there is nothing you can do to legislate for such moments of slackness.

For Celtic on Tuesday night, it was Dedryck Boyata who was the main fall-guy, letting a long ball from Bayern keeper Sven Ulreich bounce all the way through to Kingsley Coman to open the scoring.

For Hamilton, it seems to be something that happens on almost a weekly basis, and while Canning says that there is a certain pride to be taken when your team have played well only to lose, he would take a poor performance and a scrappy win any day of the week.

“I missed the first half of the game because I had to take my kids out for Halloween, which I was delighted about,” said Canning.

“But I got back in time for the second half – my wife had to do without a lift into town – and I thought Celtic were excellent.

“By all accounts, they were just as good, if not better, during the first 45 minutes.

“It was a pity because their performance meant that they deserved to take something from it.

“You can definitely feel pride in your team’s display in situations like that, but you’d take as much pride if they’d performed poorly and won 1-0 or sneaked a draw.

“In fact, you’d probably feel even more pride because you’ve dug in and got a point or a result. So, you can be proud of your players for the way they’ve gone about things, especially when they do what you ask them to.

“But if someone makes a mistake then all you can do, as a coach or a manager, is get the team and the tactics right – you can’t control individual errors.”

The gulf in finances and quality of player between Hamilton and Celtic and the Scottish champions and Bayern Munich is probably not too dissimilar, and Canning says it can be doubly frustrating to compete well against a much better outfit only to shoot yourselves in the foot.

In the Scottish Premiership, he believes it is the ability to limit your individual errors rather than producing moments of outstanding quality, as dispiriting as that sounds, that win the day more often than not.

And as he prepares his men for the challenge of Aberdeen’s visit to the Superseal Stadium on Saturday, it is a message he will be getting across loud and clear to his men.

“That’s just football, especially at the top end,” he said.

“When you play against the top teams and the best players, it doesn’t need to be a massive mistake – just switching off for a second can cost you because they’re so quick to spot that and punish you.

“It’s the same in the Premiership. Mistakes are what win and lose you games, it’s not the quality of your play which dictates how many points you take from games.

“At Champions League level, it’s different because teams have more ability and even small errors are seized on.”