David Martindale was in a chirpy mood post-match. No wonder, his men had netted six goals against Kelty Hearts in the Premier Sports Cup to secure a slot in the next stage of the first major of the season.
Now, the focus is firmly on the club’s opening fixture in the William Hill Premiership, an away trip to Kilmarnock on Saturday, August 2 (15.00).
The manager said: “It was important that we scored as many games as we could. You focus on performance and the rest takes care of itself.
“We started the game really well and, to be fair to Kelty, they had a lot of changes, they had a few injured and I think Tam O’Ware (Kelty’s manger) has one eye on the league.
“He had a really inexperienced squad out there and that really helped us.”
He added: “Second half, we eased off, but they dropped 20 yards and the game became more difficult, trying to get into the opponents final third. We had a lot of entries, but it was more difficult as we had to play over them or round them.
“I understand why you would do that as you are 4-0 down at half-time, but I felt we scored some really good goals.”
Livingston-born Adam Montgomery was a player Martindale noted last season and the manager said the 23-year-old’s use of his left foot “caught his eye”.
He has also noted a good game intelligence and Martindale (pictured post match by Nigel Duncan) said: “I don’t want to talk out of turn, but I think he has a real future ahead.”
Montgomery is at Livingston on loan from Celtic and a run of game in the Premiership will, he said, help the player develop more.
Martindale believes Montgomery is “a very good professional” and he said you don’t last long at a club like Celtic if you don’t have an elite mentality.
The relationship between Graham Carey and Stevie May, both former St Johnstone players, was also a plus for Martindale and the manager added that he was also pleased with the performance of two-goal Robbie Muirhead in the game at the Home of the Set Fare Arena.
Martindale said: “Robbie, I wanted him to get his hat-trick, but I think his off-the-ball work is probably the highest he has had at the club and he took his headed goal from inside the box, brilliant. His free-kick? He has been doing that his full career.”
Looking at the Premiership season ahead, Martindale admitted that his men will go through “periods of adversity” and that is where he will rely on the senior players in the squad.
Signings like Aidan Denholm and Macaulay Tait plus Montgomery have brought the average age of the squad down and the boss said: “I think we have the balance right.”
Denholm, unfortunately, tweaked him hamstring and lasted only 24 minutes on his debut, and Martindale said: “I spoke to Derek (McInnes) at Hearts and he speaks very highly about Aidan.
“The kid is a wee bit gutted right now, but we will stick by him and we will get him through and we will get him back in the next four to eight weeks.”
