Livingston

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Livingston boss David Martindale has thanked Steve Clarke and his players for giving the next generation of Scotland supporters the chance to make a lifetime of memories following the national team to a World Cup like he did in 1998.

The 51-year-old was 23 when he travelled to France with friends to watch Craig Brown's team face Brazil, Norway and Morocco.

The Lions manager is delighted the 28-year wait for a return to the World Cup is over after the Scots topped their qualifying section with a dramatic 4-2 win over Denmark on Tuesday.

"It was unbelievable," said Martindale.

"Steve Clarke, all his staff and all his players should take massive, massive credit.

"That's three tournaments Steve's taken us to and a first World Cup. I think I speak for everybody in thanking the Scottish players, the Scottish staff.

"I think the Scottish FA has got to take a lot of credit as well. It's easy to forget about them but Ian Maxwell was the guy that appointed Steve Clarke.

"I think the full Scottish set-up, every one of them should take massive, massive credit. They're going to create memories for Scottish football fans that will last a lifetime.

"I was at the last one, France 98, and I can still remember that very, very vividly, the people I travelled with, the people I socialised with, the games. It was an unbelievable experience."

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• Rangers have never lost in 25 home games against Livingston in all competitions (W22 D3); it's the most they have faced a side at home without ever losing.

• Livingston have lost 20 of their past 22 meetings with Rangers in all competitions (D2) since a 1-0 league victory in September 2018.

• Rangers are unbeaten in 30 Scottish Premiership games against newly-promoted opponents (W26 D4), although their last defeat was to Livingston in September 2018 (1-0). At home, the Ibrox side have won 13 of their past 15 league games against promoted sides (D2) since a 2-1 defeat to Hibernian in February 2018.

• Rangers boss Danny Rohl has won his first three Premiership matches in charge. Of Rangers' past four permanent managers, (Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale, Philippe Clement and Russell Martin) only Rohl's predecessor Martin failed to win all of his first four league matches.

• Livingston have won just one of their 12 league matches this season (D5 L6), the fewest of any team in the top flight and their second-fewest victories at this stage of a top-flight season in their history, ahead of only 2005-06 (0).

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Livingston manager David Martindale has told Joshua Brenet to soak up Curacao's World Cup celebrations rather than rushing back for Saturday's visit to Rangers.

The Caribbean island, with a population of just over 150,000, is the smallest nation to ever qualify following Tuesday's 0-0 draw in Jamaica.

And Martindale is thrilled for the 31-year-old full-back, who moved to West Lothian in October.

"He'll come back to me, probably highly motivated to make sure he does well to get picked for the national team, so it's going to stand us in good stead as well," he said.

"Chipper and Marv [assistants Brian Rice and Marvin Bartley] had stayed up and watched the Jamaica-Curacao game, but I was sleeping by that point, because it was a one o'clock in the morning kick-off our time.

"But I woke up this morning and checked the result, so it was two really, really good bits of news [following Scotland's qualification]."

Brenet was an unused substitute in Jamaica but has started the past three games for Livingston.

Asked if the defender would be back in time for the trip to Ibrox, Martindale said: "No. The flights back were always going to be tight anyway.

"Curacao are throwing a massive celebration for all the players and their families. He said he was happy to miss it if I wanted him back on Friday, but I said, 'Look, go and enjoy it'.

"So I gave him a couple of extra days and said, 'Go and enjoy yourself, go and enjoy your moment and we'll see you next week'."

We asked for your views on what one thing you would change at Livingston.

Here's what some of you said:

Derek: David Martindale is doing a great job at Livi, maybe a better rub of the green with certain decisions and better luck with injuries to key players will help. we're never going to be top-six but definitely deserve to be higher up the table.

Kyle: Probably more work at defence.

Malky: Livi definitely have the squad to survive AND finish mid-table at best. Sadly no one wants to admit it's maybe a time and a future plan to look at a fresh man at the helm.

Livingston have made a bumpy start to life back in the top flight.

David Martindale's men occupy bottom spot but performances suggest they are far from out of their depth.

The international break provides the chance to pause for breath and reflect after a frenetic few months in West Lothian.

So, if you could change one thing about Livi's season so far, what would it be?

Tell us here.

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

Ourselves and Falkirk have had contrasting fortunes so far since stepping up from the Championship in the summer.

The Bairns, who currently sit fifth, have burst out of the blocks with some good results in the first few months of the season whereas we have stumbled a little and are a point adrift at the bottom.

Performances have been decent but we've not got the points we would like to have at this stage.

We've got half the points Falkirk have - and half of our points are from them! However, they just can't seem to beat us and the Bairns fans I know are seething at that.

They must have been in full-on rage when the evergreen Danny Wilson bulleted his last-minute header into the net. Wonderful stuff.

With back-to-back draws we are slowly but surely getting points on the board. Next step has to be converting draws into wins.

We've got some key players out injured and they look like they are well on the way to returning soon.

We've badly missed Ryan McGowan in the last few weeks. If we can get him fit and our defenders playing in their natural positions we can get the clean sheets we will need to start chalking up wins.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Livingston struck late against Falkirk to earn a point through Danny Wilson's header.

The centre-back earns a spot in my team of the week as a result.

We asked for your views on Livingston's 1-1 draw against Falkirk.

Here's what some of you said:

Malcolm: Same as last week, we found the fighting spirit that we've been lacking so far. A point seemed fair, and if we continue like this the wins will come. I usually agree with David Martindale, but he needs too stop blaming VAR for stuff. Although it went against us I think it did its job right this time. The team has turned a corner, now let's push for some wins.

Malky: Another point, another get out of jail goal. Livi have to have more of a 90 minutes mentality than excuses about what they're capable of. They've got the squad to do it.

Watch all the highlights as Livingston score late equaliser to hold Falkirk to a 1-1 draw in the Scottish Premiership.

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Livingston captain Danny Wilson feels his side deserve a better points return than they have acquired so far and says they are "not satisfied" at propping up the Scottish Premiership.

His late header rescued a point for David Martindale's side in the 1-1 draw away to Falkirk after trailing to Brian Graham's early penalty.

For the second match in a row, Livingston struck in the dying minutes to earn a draw after consistent late concessions cost them in previous fixtures.

"We've been on the other side of it enough this season, so it's nice to pick up points in that manner," Wilson told BBC Scotland.

"There wasn't a lot in the game, so these moments are important when they come along. I'm just glad to get a goal today and help the team to get a point.

"We know over the 90 minutes we can be better and we can give more to the game.

"We've got the [international] break now and we've got a tough game straight afterwards [away to Rangers]. We're going to have to pick up points if we want to push ourselves up the table.

"I think our play has been deserving of a wee bit more, but you don't get anything just for a nice performance.

"Sometimes you have to really dig deep and get the points on the board.

"We're not satisfied where we are. We've got some more to come, so we'll endeavour to put that right."

Livingston snatched a point at the death for the second consecutive week but it was not enough to halt fellow Scottish Premiership newcomers Falkirk rising to third in the table.

Read the full match report here.

Have your say here.

Livingston manager David Martindale tells BBC Scotland: "A Falkirk fan sent me a message this morning, saying 'good luck for the rest of the season, hope you get beat today.'

"I replied 'I just hope it's a good game of football and VAR doesn't get involved'.

"I look at the penalty, and I think it's really harsh. The referee says its distance. Stevie May can't move it, his arm is not extended, it just hits him. The ref has seen it in real time and doesn't think it's a penalty.

"I really don't think it's a penalty. Maybe my angle is wrong. There's a shout for us, Keelan Adams on Andrew Shinnie. You can see the motion of Keelan's arm. We were told Andrew was nowhere near the ball. What does that have to do with anything?

"I feel like I'm talking about VAR far too much, maybe it's me that needs to shut up.

"I thought we deserved at least a point from the game. The game became a little transitional, but I've got to give my players massive credit. The subs that came on really helped us today. That's what the squad is for.

"I think a point is about fair but it's the least we deserve. Come the end of the season that could be a big point."

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Falkirk welcome back Leon McCann and have added new signing Ryan Edwards to their squad but Ross McIver drops out with an ankle injury to join Lewis Neilson (ankle), Coll Donaldson (abdomen), Tom Lang (foot) and Aidan Nesbitt (foot) on the sidelines.

Livingston have Ryan McGowan back in training but are still without Shane Blaney (hamstring), Adam Montgomery (calf), Connor McLennan (concussion), Cammy Kerr (ankle) and Aidan Denholm (hamstring).

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Livingston manager David Martindale believes Falkirk's form shows how strong the Championship was last season and he feels his own team are also backing up that assertion.

Falkirk will be two points off Celtic in third place in the Premiership if they beat Livingston on Saturday, after winning three of their previous four games.

The Bairns pipped Livi to the Championship title last season and Martindale's side have also proved themselves to be highly competitive in the vast majority of games this season, with the concession of four last-minute winners consigning them to bottom place.

Martindale said: "They've always got goals in them, Falkirk. They're a good attacking team and they've kept that even when they've changed the players within the group.

"For me, in certain games where we've got to be a wee bit more clinical is at the top end of the park.

"Falkirk have probably been that wee bit more clinical at the top end of the park.

"If you wanted to strip every game back, they played Aberdeen for 50 minutes with 10 men. So there's different reasons. But they're up there on merit.

"I was a big advocate of it last year, how strong the top end of the Championship was.

"And I think we've shown that. Because even though we may be sitting at the bottom of the table just now, if you went around our opponents, I don't think they would actually say they would have thought Livingston were bottom of the league based on the performances."

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Livingston defender Shane Blaney faces three months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury - and some "careful" handling after that.

The 26-year-old, who joined Livi from Motherwell in the summer, has missed the past two matches after being forced off in the 4-0 defeat by Hibs.

Manager David Martindale said: "We had the option of surgery or trying to let it heal naturally with rehab.

"We've chosen with Shane to go down the rehab path. The timescales are very similar, so Shane's going to probably be another 12 weeks.

"It's hard, he missed pre-season on the back of coming into us a wee bit injured from Motherwell with his knee, and then he's come in and not been able to find any consistency in terms of training time or game time.

"It's difficult with the intensity and the physicality of the Scottish Premiership. It's so quick, and it's really, really hard when you've not done a proper pre-season, and that's probably where Shane is.

"So we need to look at that as a group, when Shane is available to return to training, whether we delay that to give him the best chance possible of coming back and staying fit.

"It would be great to have him involved this season, of course it would, but I think we've got to play this one a wee bit careful."

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• Falkirk last hosted Livingston in the top flight on the final day of the 2005-06 season, winning 1-0 courtesy of Daniel McBreen's goal.

• Livingston have lost four of their past six Premiership away games against newly-promoted opponents (W2), including both of their last two: 2-0 v Kilmarnock in May 2023 and 1-0 v Dundee in November 2023.

• Falkirk have won three of their past four league games (L1), with no side winning more matches than the Bairns in the Premiership since the October international break (3, level with Hearts). At home, Falkirk are looking to win three successive games in the top flight for the first time since December 2007.

• Livingston have just seven points in 11 league games this season (W1 D4 L6), while a defeat here would make this the poorest start by any side after 12 matches of a Premiership campaign since 2021-22, when Ross County managed just six points in their opening 12.

• Falkirk have had 11 different goalscorers in the league this season (excluding own goals), more than any side. Only Aberdeen (5) have had fewer than Livingston (6).

Livingston manager David Martindale has been booked to appear on BBC Scotland's "Debate Night" politics show on Wednesday evening. (Scottish Sun), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

A 2-2 draw against the lauded Hibs may not immediately sound that important a result, but I reckon this hard-earned draw could turn around our season.

Let's be honest, the Easter Road team had pumped us this season already. They are a good outfit and will dish out similar to bigger teams than Livi.

However, the way we clawed our way back into the game last weekend should be rocket fuel to our stuttering season.

The team, the staff, the manager and yes, the fans, all played a part in this result.

This match was also our regular hard-luck story turned on its head. The late goal this time was scored by us and was oh so sweet. From going behind twice, we played some first-class football and showed brilliant tenacity.

The players efforts' fuelled the fans and that in turn gave those on the pitch extra energy.

There's been a wee bit of negativity recently so this atmosphere was a tonic to everyone.

It has to be said the referee played a part too. He was rotten and that only seemed to galvanise the fans, giving us a cause to get behind, and again that fed on to the pitch.

It may have been a draw but it feels like a 2-2 win to me.

Watch as Sportscene pundit Neil McCann talks through Jeremy Bokila's first Livingston equaliser against Hibs in Saturday's 2-2 draw.

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Watch the highlights of Livingston 2-2 Hibernian by clicking here.

We asked for your views on Livingston's 2-2 draw against Hibs.

Here's what some of you said:

Del: Great to see what we are capable of, especially concentrating and fighting to the end. Build momentum.

Fraser: A well-earned point. We showed real intent and finally got a point for our efforts. You can see we're trying to play more positively in the Premiership this season, even if late goals have cost us.

Hopefully David Martindale sticks with this starting XI for the next few games. They've got quality, and a consistent run together could help them gel and build the understanding we've been missing.

Malcolm: We fought to the end, which was really good to see, and the team had a hunger I haven't seen for ages. I agree with Martindale - it felt like we were playing against the referee as well as Hibs. Bottom line though, I'm happy with the result and hopefully we can use it as a spring board for future games.

Malky: Livi salvaged an earned draw against Hibs, but a lot of supporters are sadly feeling the same with hot and cold displays. Time for a new man at the helm needed.