Livingston manager David Martindale has reafirmed that the sole aim of the club this season is to retain its status in the William Hill Premiership.
Martindale (pictured by Ian Jacobs) believes he has the staff and players to do that and he desperately wants to lay the foundations to be a sustainable Premiership club.
To do that Livi have to put points on the board and the club have collected only two points in their last five games, and suffered three defeats.
The Lions entertain Motherwell on Saturday (kick-off 15.00) at the Home of the Set Fare Arena looking to bounce back after their 4-0 defeat at Easter Road to Hibs last Saturday.
The defeat leaves the West Lothian club uncomfortably positioned at the foot of the 12-strong table with six points from nine games, and late goals have proved costly.
Since being beaten 3-0 at Celtic Park, the game was level at 0-0 at the break, Livingston have been edged 2-1 at home by pace-setting Hearts who scored in the 92nd minute.
They followed that up with a 0-0 draw at Aberdeen, lost controversially 3-2 at Dundee following a penalty award after 97 minutes.
The West Lothian side also slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Rangers following an injury-time strike by defender Max Aarons – time 94 minutes – and the battling Lions drew 1-1 at Dundee United after going ahead.
The Steelmen, who have won one, drawn two and lost two of their last five outings, are in tenth spot with eight points from eight starts.
There is a long way to go before the business end of the season, but Livingston’s goal difference is minus eight, the worst in the division.
Straight-taking Martindale pulled no punches and believes that his squad were the “architects of their own downfall” at Easter Road.
The boss said: “We lose a goal on eight minutes from poor decision making. We had started the game OK, but we were lucky to go in 1-0 down at half-time.”
Livingston changed shape as Hibs were exploiting weakness down the left-hand channel, but he said: “First five minutes (of the second half) we make a terrible decision and, at that point, the game is gone.”
Looking back, Martindale said the year the club spent in the Championship was “brilliant for us” and a “good reset” but he stressed: “Coming back up we’ve got to lay the foundations to be a sustainable Premiership club.
“Our sole aim is to make sure we are in the Premiership next year. That is it, the sole aim. I know we have the staff and players capable of doing that.”
