Livingston

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Were you at Pittodrie on Wednesday or following the match from home? Either way, we want your views on the game – have your say here.

Livingston manager David Martindale: "The top end of the park was the difference, if I'm being brutally honest.

"We've got to get better for the two goals, we give Bojan Miovski too much room in the box. But I've got to caveat that with he's one of the best strikers in the league. I think he's class.

"We created some good chances, we got behind them on a number of occasions. Wee Brucey has the best chance of the game. He's clean through and doesn't hit the target.

"Really that's the story of the game."

Tyrone Smith, BBC Sport Scotland at Pittodrie

There was a lot to like about Livingston's performance.

They were organised and dogged, qualities that will get you so far.

But it is capitalising on the big moments that wins you games, and Bruce Anderson’s failure to convert when he was in on goal is a case in point.

That sums up life at the bottom of the table, but it is something that is going to have to change if David Martindale’s side are to get themselves out of trouble.

Sean Kelly has not recovered from a knock in the goalless draw with Kilmarnock, so Jamie Brandon comes into the Livingston XI for tonight's match away to Aberdeen.

Brandon will slot in as a wing-back, with Joel Nouble pushing up front.

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Jane Lewis discusses all the big news in Scottish football with former Rangers, Carlisle, Falkirk and Dundee striker Rory Loy and Ryan Cryle, joint sports editor of the Press and Journal and Evening Express.

As well as previewing Rangers v St Johnstone and Aberdeen v Livi, they take a look at the Old Firm ticketing row, celebrate the legend that is Kenny Dalglish and, as Derek Adams stands by his controversial critique of the game in this country, they assess a range of ideas for improving Scottish football.

Listen to the full episode here.

• Aberdeen have won both of their last two home league games against Livingston, and have never won three in a row at home to them in the top-flight before.

• Livingston have taken 10 points from their last six league games against Aberdeen (W3 D1 L2), as many as their previous 18 against them beforehand (W2 D4 L12).

• After beating Hearts 2-1, Aberdeen are looking to win back-to-back league games for just a second time this season, after doing so in September. At home, the Dons last won successive home league fixtures in April last season (run of five).

• Livingston have only won one of their last 16 away league games (D2 L13), a 3-2 win at Hibernian in August. They have lost their last four on the road, failing to score in their last three.

• 20 of Bojan Miovski’s 22 goals in the Scottish Premiership for Aberdeen have come at Pittodrie (91%). Indeed, the North Macedonian has scored (5) or assisted (1) six of the Don’s last eight home league goals (75%).

Livingston head to Pittodrie on Wednesday night, looking to end their winless run and ease their relegation fears.

Would you make any changes to the starting line-up if your were in David Martindale's shoes? Pick your Livi XI here.

Aberdeen’s Jack MacKenzie has returned to training after recovering from a hamstring injury and will be assessed. Fellow defender Slobodan Rubezic is suspended.

Livingston could be at full strength if Sean Kelly recovers in time from the knock that forced him off in Saturday’s goalless draw with Kilmarnock.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Cristian Montano believes Livingston have a big chance to change the dynamic of their season in the coming weeks.

They have five matches and 15 points to play for over the festive period – including Wednesday’s trip to Aberdeen – and Montano is confident they can ease their predicament before they get a chance to “regroup” during the winter break and add some new faces in the January transfer window.

“There’s a lot of things that can come into play here,” said the Colombian. “We’re in a busy period, but we’re also coming up to a period where we can have a break and regroup.

“Hopefully we can get a few results to go into that on a positive note. And hopefully the board and gaffer can look at different things as well because we do need some new additions to help us kick on for the second part of the season.

“If you look at the injuries and suspensions we’ve had, we’ve been light when we’ve lost two or three players. If we can get a couple of new faces in, it will help us.

“That goes for any other team but I feel like we need that, especially with the season we’ve had. We’ve had a lot of players from the core of last season’s team missing through injuries and if we get new faces in that could help give us more balance.”

Montano is in his third season at Livingston and he feels previous challenging periods at the club can help them get back on track this time.

“When you’re trying to be successful at anything, you’re not just going to go all the way up in a straight line,” he said. “You’re going to have roadblocks, you’re going to have setbacks. In my time here, it’s always been like that.

“It’s never been a smooth ride. My first season here wasn’t smooth. Even last season, when we had a great start, it didn’t end so well. We’ve always had roadblocks and now we’re having it earlier in the season.

“We just have to look at those experiences we’ve had in the last few seasons and how we dealt with those setbacks. We know we can come out the other side and make it all work. It’s about staying calm and believing in ourselves.”

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Stuart Barrie, Livingston fan

On the bright side, we didn’t lose this.

The reality is we really could have done with a win and perhaps should have won this one, especially when we had a penalty late on. When Bruce Andrerson swerved his spot kick wide to hit the post, it probably was the most gutted I’ve been at the football in a long time. He’s an out and out goal scorer and will be gutted too, but Bruce has to put it behind him and get focused on what he does best for the team, scoring goals.

It’s well documented we’re on a poor run and Livi fans would need to head to YouTube to see what a goal looks like it’s been that long.

The players look very low on confidence. We’re not playing anything like the football we can play. We’re a bit one dimensional at the moment with a direct style and there’s a fair bit of hoofing it.

There was a few times I felt for Holty when he was looking for the pass but simply had no options so had to go long. I don’t think they players are hiding but they don’t seem to have the same desire we had earlier in the season to take the ball and pass it. Hence, we go long and it just gets fired back at us so we’re under pressure again.

The last few weeks have seen some negativity from the stands. That’s understandable from fans when they are concerned about how things are going and not seeing our team hit the heights we know they can hit. However, there was some good backing from most of the fans for the players and management team which was good to see.

We’ve got a couple of hard away fixtures coming up in Aberdeen and at Celtic, but we need a good performance at least. Get that and we can get into our next couple of home games against Hearts and St Johnstone which are massive for us now.

David Martindale says "versatile" Shaun Donnellan's arrival will allow him to focus on bringing in attacking players as the club look to preserve their Premiership status.

The 27-year-old, who was a Republic of Ireland under-21 international, will join up with Livingston on 1 January 2024, first being available against Hearts a day later.

Donnellan joins on a two-and-a-half year deal from English National League South side, Torquay United, where Martindale has monitored him since the summer.

"I worked hard to bring him to the club but Torquay squashed my interest early doors," Martindale told the club's website.

“This November, Shaun was in a position to sign a pre-contract with ourselves and I’m delighted that he has chosen to do so.

“Everything was done with Torquay’s permission, and it has now developed that they are willing to let Shaun move on in January 2024 rather than waiting until the end of the season.

“Shaun is very versatile and can play a number of positions – right back, right wing-back, right centre back and defensive midfield.

“He will bring a lot of versatility to the squad and that should allow us to move one or two on in the defensive areas, while focusing our recruitment more in the offensive areas now that we know we have Shaun over the line."

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David Martindale has defended Derek Adams' rant about the standard of Scottish football, saying the Ross County boss is "educated enough" on the subject.

The former Morecombe manager slated the level of football being played in the Premiership after his side's 1-0 defeat to Dundee on Saturday, saying: "I've left a team down in League Two that's miles better than this team. Miles. That's saying something. We had the bottom budget in League Two, and they were 100 times better than this."

“Derek’s managed down south quite a bit, he’s now managing back up in Scotland so I think he’s entitled to his own opinion,” said Martindale. “It’s more of an educated opinion than what I can give you because I’ve not done what Derek’s done so he’s probably well within his rights to say it.

“He’s maybe articulated it wrong, I don’t know, I’ve not watched it back, but he’s educated enough in terms of his CV to have an opinion on the subject.

“I had a conversation with someone else who has managed down south at that level and in Scotland and it wasn’t Derek Adams. And privately that was the information, the consensus I was kind of getting from them.

“But I go back to recruitment. What markets can you recruit from? Me personally, I’m recruiting from National League, National League North, National League South.”

Image source, BBC Sport

David Martindale will believe Livingston can get out of the situation they're in.

But the fact of the matter is, they aren't winning games and they aren't scoring goals. There's only so long that trend can continue if they have any hope of staying in the top-flight.

There's only so long they can go on just looking to draw or to keep a clean sheet. Something has to change.

They had a huge opportunity to win on Saturday, but Bruce Anderson missed a penalty and passed up a huge opportunity to give them what would have been a morale-boosting win.

I'm not sure if they'll have the funds to go and freshen up in January, but it's something Martindale will certainly be hoping to do.

The fact that they're not cut adrift gives them a bit of hope, but for me, it would have to be a monumental turnaround for them to have a chance for survival.

James McFadden was speaking to BBC Scotland's Sean McGill

• Livingston have failed to score in their last seven games in the Scottish Premiership, their longest run of games without scoring a goal in the competition.

• Kilmarnock attempted 24 crosses in this match, higher than their season average of 23.6 in the Scottish Premiership.

• Bruce Anderson attempted four shots in this game, the highest total for a Livingston player in the Scottish Premiership this season.

• Kyle Vassell has attempted five shots, the first time he has attempted at least five shots in a match in the Scottish Premiership since facing Dundee on 23 September 2023.

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