MARTIN Canning admits Hamilton's flying start to the season has surpassed even their own expectations.
The ex Gretna player is hopeful of Scottish Cup success as he leads his Accies team against Queens at Palmy in the Scottish Cup.
His side sit two points clear of Raith at the top of the table having lost just one of 11 league matches so far and have surprised many with their ruthless run.
It's been a dream start for Alex Neil who took over as player-boss in May and skipper Canning admits even the players have been surprised by their form.
But the 31-year-old stopper, who has experienced the highs of winning promotion with Gretna six years ago and the lows of being relegated with Accies in 2011, says there can be no let up.
He said: "It's been a great start for us and we'd love to keep it going.
"Dropping out the SPL two years ago was a shock because the season before that we had done really well and finished seventh.
"Nobody was really expecting to be relegated and it hit us hard.
"The squad we had at that point should probably have done better and gone straight back up but it didn't quite happen.
"It's taken a couple of years to rebuild and hopefully now we can push on."
Canning says it's impossible to draw any comparisons between the Gretna team of 2006/07 which won promotion to the SPL and the current Accies side.
He said: "This is totally different to the Gretna squad which won the league. That was a hugely experienced team, I was the youngest at 25 so that tells you everything.
"This is a young squad with a few guys as young as 17. I say young but we have quite a bit of experience in terms of games played.
"Maybe we are a bit ahead of where we planned to be. We had hoped to get off to a good start and the start we have made is probably above our expectations.
"But the longer you keep doing what you are doing then the more belief you get.
Meanwhile it has been reported that Queens have stepped up their training schedule and are raring to go.