Ryan McGowan relishes Livingston being back in the William Hill Premiership and confirmed that the general feeling in the Lions camp group is excitement.
Livingston’s captain said the main goal last season was to get back up from the Championship to the Premiership at the first time of asking and the squad worked hard to be in their current position .
The title race went down to the last game of the season and instant promotion would, he said, have been great, but Livingston were cast into the play-offs and they eventually came through with a sensational road win at Ross County.
The Aussie-born defender said: “That gave the club and the fans a real lift going into the summer and it has been a pretty good pre-season, we have brought in some good players, and we are looking forward to getting ready for Saturday.”
Livingston travel to Kilmarnock in their opening game in the William Hill-backed league (15.00) and they visited Rugby Park in the Premier Sports Cup group games, being edged out 1-0.
McGowan said: “The gaffer (David Martindale) has said publicly before, sometimes when you are in the top flight it is about survival, worrying about what other teams are going to do with you instead of what you can do to hurt them and get points.
“Last season we re-set, we controlled most the ball and I thought we played pretty good football for 90 per cent of the season. That is something we want to take into this season.
“We will be a different Livingston to what we were in the Premier League before we got relegated.”
The 35-year-old defender added: “It is up to us as players to do what we do in training during the week and, hopefully, that gets us points and gets us up the league.”
McGowan said that the new signings had bedded in really well and, first and foremost, they are “good guys” and they have been brought in to try and improve the squad.
Newcomers have also bought into to the culture at the Home of the Set Fare Arena and have a good work ethic in them.
McGowan added: “Everyone knows what they can do on the pitch but, I think, the teams are successful are the teams who are one to 24, not one to 14. We know it will be a long, hard season and we are going to need everybody.
“The gaffer has brought in a fair few players to make sure we are a strong squad in case injuries hit us and, I think, that always puts you in good stead for the season coming.”
McGowan is also enjoying the new pitch at the club and he said: “Our pitch is really good. There are worse astros out there, and ours always got a bit of a bad rap and it was an excuse, now it is probably one of the best astros in Scotland.
“We, as players, are thoroughly enjoying (playing on it) and, hopefully, teams, when they come here, enjoy playing on it, but don’t get the victories they want.
“Everyone enjoys playing on a good surface and I think that is exactly what we have got here.”
