Livingston

Stuart Barrie
Fan writer

We had three must-win games in a week. We even took an early lead in two of those, but ultimately came away from a massive week with just one point.

We’re not completely cut adrift; it just feels underwhelming. The disappointment of losing the lead against Motherwell hung over the St Johnstone game, and sadly, their equaliser felt inevitable.

After a decent first half we dropped deep and hung on like Rocky Balboa when I felt we could, and should, have gone for a knock-out blow.

After Ross County's late win in February, manager David Martindale said his game management choices were poor and admitted he was going for the win when a point was okay. With that in mind, he probably went too far the other way this time and let the Saints back into it, but hindsight is a wonderful thing in football.

Martindale’s fortitude after these defeats is a credit to him. Some may mock saying he’s deluded, but his drive and belief that the team can still get out of this is a credit to him.

There are 10 games and 30 points still left to play for. If we can stay in it until the split, we may just pull off a comeback that Rocky himself would be proud of.

We asked for your views after Livingston's 1-1 draw with St Johnstone. Here's a flavour of what you had to say.

Malcolm: I still reckon they have the squad to stay up but the mentality? No. And that's down to the manager.

Anon: Another nail in the coffin.

Penalty should have been given against Mikey Devlin for handball, says James McFadden

Watch the best of the action as St Johnstone and Livingston share the points in Perth. (Available to UK users only)

Sean McGill
BBC Sport Scotland

Despite ending the week with a more sparse return than they would have desired, curiously, Livingston might be able to take more heart from this run than their previous barren spell.

Though still some way off the miracle machine of the Livingston of old, there's been flashes of fight and desire. Amid all the adversity, the door remains ajar.

Martindale's plan is to still be in with a chance when the split rolls around in four games' time. Considering the run they have in that period, it will be no easy task.

Read Sean's piece in full here.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

• Graham Carey has assisted six goals this season (one in this game), more than any other St Johnstone player in the Scottish Premiership.

• Livingston have scored in their last four games in the Scottish Premiership, their joint longest scoring streak this season.

• Nicky Clark has scored six goals this season (one in this game), more than any other St Johnstone player in the Scottish Premiership.

• Livingston have scored in each of their last four games in the Scottish Premiership, scoring five goals in that run.

More late heartbreak for Livingston.

What did you make of the performance in Perth and are you still carrying hope that the great escape can be pulled off?

Let us know.

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Livingston manager David Martindale told BBC Scotland: "I'd have taken a point before the game. We're a point closer to Ross County. We're a point closer to where we were a 3 o'clock today.

"Disappointing to lose the goal late on. I'm not going to say either side should have won the game, there wasn't much in it. It didn't go any different from how I expected it to go.

"I think their fighting spirit has always been there. I think you can tell they're doing everything they can to stay in the Premiership. They're all in there gutted."

Asked if he still believes if he can keep the side up if they're within touching distance at the split, he said: "100%. 100%. 100%. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think that."

Sean McGill
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

This looked to be a season-defining week for Livingston as they faced three encounters with teams that could feasibly be hunted down in their efforts to pull off the great escape.

Highland heartbreak at Ross County was followed by defeat at home to Motherwell after taking the lead. With 10 games to go before today, it felt like their meeting at McDiarmid had an air of now or never.

And that's how they played for much of the 110 minutes or so in Perth. Charging around and defending with confidence had them on track for a huge win, especially considering Ross County's defeat in the capital.

Yet again, their backline couldn't hold on until the final whistle and the heads dropped lower than perhaps they ever have in this season of sucker punch after sucker punch.

They may yet stumble off the canvas, but as the clock ticks down, the knockout blow seems increasingly inevitable.

Despite the late equaliser, the Livingston defence still showed their strength for much of the afternoon.

Michael Nottingham appeared the most solid of the bunch, and always had his head up in the hope of pushing his side forward.

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David Martindale makes three changes to the Livingston side that fell to demoralising defeat against Motherwell on Wednesday.

Cristian Montano makes his first start since 20 January, drafted in alongside Michael Devlin and Andrew Shinnie.

Out go Jamie Brandon, Bruce Anderson and Joel Nouble.

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St Johnstone: Mitov, Keltjens, McGowan, Gordon, Robinson, Phillips, Sprangler, M. Smith, Jaiyesimi, Kimpioka.

Substitutes: Richards, Gallacher, Considine, May, Carey, Kucheriavyi, Sidibeh, K. Smith, C. Smith.

Livingston: George, Devlin, Nottingham, Obileye, Kelly, MacKay, Carson, Holt, Montano Shinnie, Yengi.

Substitutes: McGovern, Anderson, Stephen Kelly, Brandon, Bradley, Nouble, Sangare, Guthrie, Culbert.

St Johnstone remain without striker Adama Sidibeh, plus long-term absentees Ali Crawford, Drey Wright, Ross Sinclair and Cammy MacPherson.

Livingston manager David Martindale is likely to be selecting from the same squad he had at his disposal for the midweek defeat by Motherwell.

James Penrice, Shaun Donnellan and Scott Pittman are all set to remain on the sidelines along with goalkeeper Jack Hamilton.

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Sean Kelly hopes the "volatile" nature of the bottom six will give Livingston a chance of survival - after admitting they deserve to be at the foot of the table.

The Lions are currently seven points behind 11th-placed Ross County, having won just one of their last 20 Premiership matches.

“I think the size of the task speaks for itself, it’s pretty obvious for all to see. It’s obviously going to be difficult,” he said ahead of this weekend's trip to St Johnstone.

“We just need to take it a game it a time and look to close the gap as much as possible, especially going into the split because we know after the split, things can be quite volatile when you’re playing the teams round about you.

“We just need to get a bit closer before the split comes."

Livingston's 1-0 win over St Mirren last month was the side's last league points, and Kelly admitted Livingston's position at the foot of the table was earned.

“I think there are times this season when you can pick out certain moments and certain games when people might think ‘Livi have done alright’ but in the main, the league table doesn’t lie,” said the defender.

“Performances as a whole, over the course of a full game, have ultimately not been good enough.”

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

We offered you the chance to submit questions to one of our Sportscene pundits.

Q: Would you get rid of VAR?

I don’t envisage Scotland making a drastic call about VAR while other nations still operate with it. We need to accept it’s here to stay.

Within football there has to be an element of human error, players make mistakes, but the fact we’ve seen a big increase in errors means there’s clear improvement required.

That goes beyond Scottish football, though, you see that all over the place. What we need to do here is continue to upskill the referees. Their performances need to improve and there needs to be more accountability.

These incorrect decisions are very costly for clubs. Recognising an error is okay, but you can’t be offering out apologies every week.

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We offered you the chance to submit questions to one of our Sportscene pundits.

Q: How do you see the relegation fight unfolding?

The beauty of the split means every game will have a purpose.

With Bojan Miovski, Aberdeen will have enough because they have the ability to score goals.

Motherwell come into that same category with the additions they’ve made and the form of Theo Bair and Blair Spittal.

I think Livingston will put up a fight but will ultimately go down automatically. That leaves Ross County and St Johnstone to fight it out to avoid the play-off.

Despite going in front after just three minutes against Motherwell on Wednesday night, it was another disappointment for David Martindale's Livingston as their task of staying in the top flight gets even tougher.

What should Marindale do with his team for Saturday's trip to face St Johnstone?

Pick your starting line-up here.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland

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When you talk to David Martindale after a football match, one thing you can guarantee whether his team has won, lost or drawn, is unvarnished honesty.

“We’re really fragile at this point, aren’t we?”, he admitted after the damaging home defeat to Motherwell. It’s not a term any manager wants to be using to describe his team, particularly not when fighting against relegation.

The emotion was etched all over the manager in the aftermath of the game, one in which Livingston started well, got themselves in front then proceeded to shrink into their shells. “Passive” as Martindale described them.

They have fallen behind in recent matches against Partick Thistle and Ross County and there has been a reaction, but that was nowhere to be seen here. No late salvo, no kitchen sink thrown at Motherwell, just the slow descent of a team who looked powerless to halt the slide towards its inevitable fate.

You could say the same in a wider sense about Livi’s battle against the drop as they sit seven points adrift at the bottom with 10 games remaining, but Martindale is not one for standing back and just letting the chips fall where they may.

“We need to keep swinging, we need to keep fighting. We need to believe and we need our fortunes to change very quickly.”

If there is to be any hope of a remarkable escape, the catalyst has to come at St Johnstone on Saturday.