Livingston

Livingston manager David Martindale told BBC Scotland: "I look at the game, I think we were really unlucky not to take anything from the game. I thought the players' application, effort, intensity was all there.

"I thought there was a penalty in the first half for Kurtis Guthrie. I'm disappointed the on-field referee wasn't asked to go and look at that.

"I've got to take full responsibility. I've got big enough shoulders.

Asked if he'll stay in his position, he says: "It's not up to me. I've got a January window coming up and we can bring players in. Do I need to make the squad stronger? Of course I do.

"We played against a very good Hibs side today. I'm not trying to make excuses.

"I chose to be here. I'm up for the fight. I'm up for the challenge."

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Sean McGill, BBC Sport Scotland

When these sides last met in August, they both seemed so far away from the current entities that stepped out in the rain at Almondvale.

Based off that showing on a summer's day in the sunshine on Leith, Livingston looked destined for another season of defying expectation.

Martindale's side showed flashes of the outfit that has impressed the top-flight for years, but the grit and guile that had become synonymous with this side has seemingly seeped away.

Seven losses in a row, the last six without scoring. That makes them first team to suffer six successive top-flight defeats with no goals since Aberdeen in 1999.

The manager maintains that the changing room holds the necessary quality to escape the self-admitted "crisis" they find themselves in.

With every passing week, the lack of evidence to back up that belief up leaves Livingston languishing.

Kurtis Guthrie was a proper handful for the Hibs centre-halves, particularly in the first half an hour or so.

The striker was incredulous when he wasn't awarded a penalty after he went down under contact from Joe Newell.

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It's been two weeks since Livingston last kicked a ball, suffering a 1-0 defeat by St Mirren in Paisley.

David Martindale makes two changes from a fortnight ago, with forwards Joel Nouble and Bruce Anderson replaced by defenders Jamie Brandon and Ayo Obileye.

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Livingston: George, Brandon, Devlin, Nottingham, Obileye, Penrice, Kelly, Holt, Pittman, Guthrie, Shinnie.

Substitutes: Hamilton, Parkes, Anderson, Kelly, Welch-Hayes, Nouble, Sangare, Lloyd, Lawal.

Hibernian: Marshall, Whittaker, Fish, Hanlon, Obita, Levitt, Newell, Boyle, Vente, Youan, Tavares.

Substitutes: Wollacott, Jeggo, Stevenson, Doidge, Harbottle, Delferriere, Campbell, Bushiri, Molotnikov.

Image source, BBC Sport

Livingston could have defenders Ayo Obileye (foot) and Cristian Montano (hamstring) back in their squad.

Hibs should have Jordan Obita back after a hamstring injury while Dylan Vente is fully fit after sitting out the midweek defeat against Celtic as a precaution following a slight knock. Long-term absentees Adam Le Fondre (hamstring), Jake Doyle-Hayes (ankle), Harry McKirdy (heart) and Chris Cadden (Achilles) are all still unavailable.

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David Martindale is relishing the opportunity to get Livingston back on the pitch after two weeks without a game.

Last week's home match against Ross County was delayed due to a frozen pitch, but the Lions still have two games on the bounce at home (Hibs then Kilmarnock) - and Martindale reckons they can beat anyone on their day at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

"We were going into a run of three games at home, which were going to be pivotal for us before the County game got delayed," Martindale said.

"We're at home (against Hibs) and if we're at home, no matter who we play, we've always got a chance.

"It's much more difficult going to Ibrox, Celtic Park, Tynecastle, Easter Road or Pittodrie, but when any of these teams come to Livingston we've got a good opportunity if we perform on the day."

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St Johnstone defender Ryan McGowan says Hibs will face a “notoriously tough” test when they face Livingston on Saturday.

Livi currently sit bottom of the Premiership table and are four points from safety.

“It wasn't so long ago that we [St Johnstone] were kind of cut adrift from everybody and Livingston have shown over the years that when everyone's kind of doubting them, that's when they can get a big result,” McGowan said on the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast.

“At the same time, Hibs have done well under Nick Montgomery, albeit not setting the world on fire, but they've just gone about their business relatively well in terms of picking up points and being hard to beat.

“Livingston is a notoriously tough place to go and it will be a big test for Hibs going there, if they wanted to try and get third or fourth and be up there, they need to be going to places like Livingston and winning comfortably.

“At the same time, Livingston will be looking at it as a game that they can get three points in and keep in touch with everybody else.”

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English insists Livi need to score against a Hibs side who are coming into form.

“Livi have gone five without scoring and I think the last team to go six without scoring in the league is Aberdeen in 1999,” said English.

“So, something positive needs to happen at Livi pretty soon because that team looks in absolute freefall.

“David Martindale has lost that kind of mad energy that he had, he's more of a subdued character this season.

“There's a lot going on behind the scenes at Livingston, that is a troubled club and Hibs, despite the result the other night, Hibs have picked up, they're not in bad form at all.”

• Livingston have won five of their last seven league meetings with Hibernian (L2), as many as in their previous 19 top-flight games against Hibs beforehand (W5 D4 L10).

• Hibernian won their last league visit to Livingston 4-1 in March last season; Hibs last won successive top-flight visits to Livingston in November 2005 under Tony Mowbray.

• Livingston have lost each of their last six league games, the last five of which without scoring. The last side to lose six successive Scottish top-flight games without scoring were Aberdeen in September 1999.

• Hibernian have only won two of their last 13 away league games (D6 L5), wins at Aberdeen in September (2-0) and Dundee in November (2-1).

• Against no side does Hibernian’s Christian Doidge have more Scottish Premiership goals than he has versus Livingston (4, level with St. Mirren). Doidge has as many goals in the competition this term as he netted the whole of last (3).

After six games without a win, David Martindale will be hoping his side can turn their fortunes around when Livingston host Hibs on Saturday.

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Stuart Barrie, Livingston fan

Livi v County was building up to be a big one. Both teams desperate for the points - and to prove a few points too. Sadly, the game wasn’t to be as the freezing weather meant the game couldn’t go on. I fancied our chances too and think a win here would have set us up for the big games we have this December.

No game but what we got was a bit of a pile-on our social media from fans expressing hopes that we’d get relegated or even go out of business. Some pretty hostile stuff abouts our low number of fans too. All this because the weather was too bad to play in. Didn’t even fancy sitting all wrapped up to watch the game too much either as it was a testing -3 at times on Saturday morning.

I get our pitch isn’t perfect or even popular but the reaction was relentless and nasty. It’s not an all-weather pitch as some folks reckon, it can still get affected by sub-zero temperatures and snow. The stadium is built in a way that the sun doesn't reach the south stand goal area, so regardless of natural or artificial grass, this part never thaws in low temperatures. We’ve had this issue for years. It's geography and positioning as much as the cold weather that cancels games for us.

Hopefully we’ll get this game on soon and brighten up the forecast for Livi this season!

Image source, BBC Sport

Michael Stewart, BBC Sportscene pundit

Livingston's form is concerning. Very concerning.

With their game at home to Ross County called off on Saturday due to the weather, if prolongs the run, even if it was effectively a free weekend.

Any kind of result would have been a boost, something to hold onto in a season of few positives for the West Lothian club. It's not a great place for Livingston at all at the moment.

It seems, certainly from my perspective, that wee bit of a spark is out of David Martindale as well, which I think subconsciously feeds through to the players.

There's is concern because the edge is definitely out of their game and I think the edge is out of the manager. That's filtered through the team as a whole.

It's certainly not going in the right direction for them. It doesn't augur well unless something changes dramatically.

Michael Stewart was speaking to BBC Scotland's Stephen Couse

Plastic pitches could be banned in the Premiership before next season starts, with Scottish Professional Football League chief executive Neil Doncaster having headed talks that will be followed with further discussions scheduled with clubs in the New Year. (Daily Record), external

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Former vice-chairman Neil Hogarth has lodged a petition with the Court of Session which aims to "halt and suspend" the recent takeover at Livingston. (Daily Mail, print edition)

Read the rest of Saturday's Scottish gossip.

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Livingston defenders Cristian Montano and Ayo Obileye have missed recent games but could feature.

Josh Sims may return from illness for Ross County but Eamonn Brophy, Ross Callachan, Jay Henderson and Ben Paton remain out.

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Livingston find themselves bottom of the heap after slumping to six successive defeats, the worst run in David Martindale's time in charge and the club's poorest sequence in the top flight since their dismal 2005-06 campaign.

The West Lothian side have gone seven-and-a-half hours of action without scoring and haven't found the net from open play in nine hours. They've only managed five efforts on target across the last five matches.

So Martindale will be hoping three home fixtures provide a turning point.

Saturday's opponents, Ross County, are on the up, gathering four points from two games in Dingwall under returned manager Derek Adams.

But County's record on the road is not so hot, without a win in five trips (D3 L2), and they have lost four of their past six top-flight visits to Livingston, winning just once.

County have only scored once in four outings, so we're not expecting the floodgates to open.

Martindale would take any kind of goal to rekindle confidence, but County have yet to concede since Adams returned.

Livingston's home encounter with Ross County is "a game of big importance" to the hosts, says midfielder Jason Holt.

His side could move off the bottom of a highly-congested Scottish Premiership table on Saturday if results go their way, with Livi aware of just how tight the league is.

“Obviously we’ve not been on a great run but we’ve all been in football long enough to know a couple of results can turn our season so we’re hoping we can start that on Saturday and get ourselves into a more healthy position in the league," Holt said.

“When you look at the league table – and we don’t tend to do that too much when it’s this early in the season – you can see there’s not a lot between the teams points-wise. If we can get that victory, hopefully this Saturday, then it can catapult our season.

“Regardless of the result the other night [between Ross County and St Mirren], Saturday was always going to be a difficult game and a game of big importance for us.

“We’ve punched above our weight for the past three or four seasons, certainly since I’ve been here,” he said.

“I’ve been in this position before where we’ve gone four, five or six games with defeats and we’ve always come out the other side so I’m confident we can do that again.

“In the games we’ve lost, there’s not been a lot in them in terms of performances and chances between both sides."

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Livingston boss David Martindale admits his side are in a relegation battle "for the first time" under his leadership, but insists they have "more than enough" to beat the drop.

The West Lothian club sit bottom of the Premiership after 14 games, but have a chance to gain momentum at home to a Ross County side that have been boosted by the return of Derek Adams.

Martindale says his team are focusing on themselves rather than what's being said outside of the Tony Macaroni Arena.

"[We] try and block out the external noise, but that's the difficult part," Martindale said.

"There's always that outside scrutiny and pressure, which becomes more difficult, let's be honest, with social media.

"For those reasons, you take one day at a time. It's just about focusing on the internal noise and the next game of football.

"I think the players understand we've not really had the rub of the green, but we've not helped ourselves at the same time.

"I don't think we're a million miles away, but we definitely need to change something as a group. We just need to stick together and all push in the same direction.

"I do genuinely believe this: I think it's the first time I've been in a relegation battle in the Premiership. That's testament to the staff and players who have been at the club.

"We've been punching well above our weight and I know for a fact we have more than enough to stay in the Premiership."

"Every year the pundits go 'Livingston for relegation'. They're going to right one year. We just hope it's not this year. A dose of realism is needed slightly."

David Martindale has been meeting the media ahead of his side's crunch home fixture against Ross County on Saturday.

Here are the key points from his press conference...

• His side are trying to "block out the external noise" and focus on themselves, a task made harder by social media and doing their jobs in the public eye.

• Admits that they "haven't helped themselves" despite not always having "the rub of the green", wants his players to stick together and "push in the same direction".

• This is the first time Livingston have been in a genuine relegation battle under his leadership, which he calls "a testament" to how the club have "punched above their weight" in recent years.

• Pundits tout his team for relegation at the start of every season and "one year they'll be right", but "we hope it's not this year".

• He always expected a tough season because of "huge losses last year and huge cuts this year".

• Ross County have had "a wee bounce" since the return of Derek Adams, who he calls "a very good manager".

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• Livingston have only lost one of their six Scottish Premiership home games against Ross County (W4 D1), after a 1-0 loss in October 2022.

• Ross County have only failed to score in one of their last 10 league meetings with Livingston (W2 D4 L4), a 2-0 defeat in January last season.

• Livingston have lost each of their last six league matches, their longest losing run in the top-flight since between December 2005 and April 2006 – a run of 13 consecutive defeats.

• Ross County have failed to win any of their last five away matches in the league (D3 L2), failing to score in three of those.

• Livingston have attempted 38 shots across their last five Premiership matches with just five of those being on target, failing to score a single goal during this run.

Sportscene presenter Steven Thompson has had his say on which Premiership side is struggling the most, and it's bad news for Livingston fans.

David Martindale's side sit bottom of the league, with just ten points from their 14 games.

"The one team who I would say, at this minute in time, really need something is Livingston," Thompson said on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"They've hit a really, really bad patch. They struggled at the weekend against St Mirren. The goal they conceded was an own goal, which is unlucky.

"They look devoid of confidence, they're on a dreadful run. The one thing that will keep them a wee bit buoyant is that when they look above them, Aberdeen are only three points above them.

"It's still very much open, and a very difficult league to call. You would expect that the bigger clubs with the bigger budgets and squads, will start to climb.

"The league table is fascinating in many ways, there's so little in it. There's been a lack of consistency from pretty much everyone in the league. Overall the season is proving to be very difficult to predict."

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