David Martindale admitted that his men have taken a few knocks in collecting four points from two games in the William Hill Premiership, but he is looking forward to entertaining Hibs in the quarter-final of the Premier Sports Cup at the Home of the Set Fare Arena on Sunday (15.00).
Adam Montgomery, on loan from Celtic, and Danny Wilson, both suffered muscle injuries in the hard-earned 3-1 success over Falkirk in their first home league game of the season but the squad go in with confidence.
Historically, Livingston have done well in the competition which is also known as the Scottish League Cup. Indeed, they won it in 2-0 with Derek Lilley and Jamie McAllister netting. Their opponents at Hampden Park? Hibs.
Livingston have a clear week to prepare but the Easter Road club face a testing European game on Thursday when Partizan visit.
Martindale has watched Hibs games in Europe and he has been impressed and he said: “I am really looking forward to the challenge and we are as a group and it is the biggest opponent to have visited Livingston since, it think, Match Day 38 in 2023.
“I feel the players in the changing room already know they can compete at this level. I think we have all got a point to prove and we have an inner believe that we can play at this level. We have shown previously we can play at this level.
“As a club, that’s seven years in the last ten years we have been in the Premiership so we are a Premiership football club. The changing room is full of Premiership football players and we have an inner belief that we can get a result on Sunday.
“However, we are under no illusions how difficult that is going to be. Hibs are coming off the back of a tough European run. I have been watching the game and they have been brilliant.
“I think David (Gray) and his staff need to take a large amount of credit and Malky (Mackay) upstairs also. You can now see a football club which is pushing in the right direction upstairs and downstairs. We are a wee bit similar, different scales.”
ALL QUIET: The Home of the Set Fare Arena, venue for Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup clash with Hibs. Picture Nigel Duncan
